Iran to connect Bushehr nuclear power plant to national

Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Fereidoon Abbasi, said Sunday that Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant will be connected to the national grid in full capacity in near future, the official IRNA news agency reported. Abbasi said that "Nuclear electricity with 1000 megawatt capacity will be connected to national grid early next year ( according to Iranian calendar which begins on March 20, 2012)," said the report. Iran connected 700 megawatt of electricity produced by Bushehr nuclear power plant to the national grid simultaneously with the anniversary of the Islamic revolution on Feb. 11, said Abbasi who is also Iran's vice president. Diverse tests are being carried out and after the tests are proved successful the full capacity of electricity production by the power plant will be achieved, he was quoted as saying. In November 2011, Abbasi announced that Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant would be launched with its full capacity early February 2012. On Oct. 16, 2011, AEOI announced that Bushehr nuclear power plant completed the preliminary stage of its connection to the national grid "successfully" and was temporarily disconnected in order to undergo some tests. The power plant would be reconnected soon and would reach its full capacity in November, according to AEOI's announcement. Iran held a ceremony in September, 2011 to mark the preliminary launch of the delayed Bushehr project. The construction of the plant halted when the United States imposed a hi-tech embargo on Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution. Russia signed a contract with Iran in 1998 to complete the construction. But the project was postponed several times due to technical and financial challenges as well as pressure from the United States.