Iran's decision to continue cooperation with Russia attests to high quality of Russian NPPs

Russia and Iran signed a set of documents to build eight power units with VVER reactors on the turn-key basis in the Islamic Republic of Iran (four power units at the site of the Bushehr NPP and four at another site). The entire construction project in Iran, including the supplies of equipment and nuclear fuel, will be implemented under the IAEA safeguards and will fully comply with the nuclear non-proliferation regime in the same way as during the construction of the first power unit of the Bushehr NPP.

Vladimir Potsyapun, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Legislative Regulation of the Use of Nuclear Energy of the Russian State Duma Energy Committee:

Over the last two years we have seen a fast-growing interest in nuclear power engineering on the part of the novice countries. Many of them turn to Russia as a supplier of such technologies, and it is no surprise. Many nuclear power plants in different parts of the world were constructed according to the Russian and Soviet projects, including those in Europe (Finland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovakia), and Asia (China and India). It has recently been announced that Finland chose Rosatom as a partner for its new NPP, and the requirements for such projects in this country are very high. Russia won a tender to build the first nuclear power plant in Jordan. Saudi Arabia has voiced its far-reaching plans to develop nuclear power engineering and also views our country as a potential partner. The possibility of cooperation was also discussed during the high-level visit of the Russian delegation to Central America. We have already completed the first construction stage of the Tianwan NPP and agreed on the construction of new power units. The Chinese want to become coal-independent. Their cities are suffocating in smog, while their industry continues advancing fast. There is another project in the pipeline, namely the construction of the Kudankulam NPP in India. In Turkey we are carrying out a very interesting project, the Akkuyu NPP, using a completely new scheme “build-own-use”. We see that the countries of Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East are also interested in nuclear technologies.

The fact that Iran continues cooperating with us is nothing of a surprise for me. Since Iran has already started to develop nuclear power engineering and the manufacturing industry seeking to improve the quality of life of its citizens, it should come as no surprise that the country will continue its efforts. The Iranian side got convinced that the quality of our nuclear power plants is high, that our supplies of equipment and fuel are reliable, that we meet our obligations in time and provide staff trainings. This is why the current situation in the market of the construction of nuclear power plants is a normal state of things.

The BRICS countries also show a great interest in nuclear power engineering. Some ten years ago hardly anybody could imagine that Asian countries would be so interested in nuclear technologies. The number of the nuclear power units that Rosatom is to construct in the next ten years is approaching 50.

In this light the contract and the protocol to the intergovernmental agreement signed with Iran is a logical continuation of the existing cooperation. This power-producing enterprise will bring profit to our partners.