- MOSCOW (UPI) -- Russia Sunday began work on a
critical phase of an Iranian nuclear plant project strongly opposed by
the Bush administration.
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- "All equipment, provided for by a contract with
the Iranian side, was manufactured by Russian factories and successfully
brought by sea from St. Petersburg to Iranian Gulf ports," Viktor
Kozlov, managing director of Atomstroiexport, told Russia' ITAR-TASS news
agency.
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- He said the scientists would work on assembling the reactor
and the turbine.
-
- The United States has said the 1,000-megawatt reactor
in Bushehr could help advance Tehran's nuclear program, but Russia maintains
the plant will be under international supervision and serve civilian purposes
alone.
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- Kozlov said at present there were 600 Russian specialists
working on the facility in Iran and that number was expected to grow to
2,000 by the end of the year.
-
- "In connection with the fact that we have started
assembling heavy equipment and enter the final stage of work on building
the first unit, the number of Russia specialists will rise and will reach
2,000 people by the year-end," he said.
-
- President George W. Bush regards Iran as part of an "axis
of evil" along with Iraq and North Korea.
-
- Russian cooperation with Tehran goes beyond the construction
of nuclear power plants and includes Russian assistance to Tehran in exploring
new oil fields, the launching of space satellites and joint production
of passenger aircraft.
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rights reserved.
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