(Bloomberg) -- Iran's first nuclear reactor won't start as expected this year because of supply and financing delays and it may be postponed indefinitely, the Russian agency building the power plant said.
Boy howdy that's a shame, Mahmoud will have this white elephant albatross issue hanging over him next election ... |
United Nations sanctions over Iran's enrichment program are making it difficult for the Islamic Republic to find non-Russian suppliers for cooling systems and other components needed to finish the Bushehr reactor, Russian officials said. ``The schedule for the Bushehr plant will need to be corrected,'' said Sergei Novikov, spokesman for Russia's Atomic Energy Agency, by phone in Moscow today. The Iranians stopped making scheduled payments to Russia more than a month ago, after insisting on paying in euros instead of dollars, Novikov said.
Hey, that bankruptcy of Bushithler's AmeriKKKa thingy seems to go pretty well...
| So the Russkies didn't want Euros, did they? Smart enought not to buy into the currency of a dying continent ... |
Iran's Atomic Energy Organization rejected the accusation over payments, a spokesman, who declined to be identified, said by phone. Iran has made all payments and Russia is responsible for providing all the nuclear plant's equipment, he said. Russia says Iran is responsible for procuring non-Russian components.
| Nice squeeze play. Pretty soon the Iranians will start to think that the US is in cahoots with the Russians, and you know what kind of mistrust that will bring with the Mad Mullahs™ ... |
Russian Atomic Energy Agency chief Sergei Kiriyenko, a former prime minister, said in Tehran in December that Bushehr would start producing electricity by November, provided Iran meets all payments and secures supplies of key reactor components from non-Russian producers. If those criteria are met, Kiriyenko said Russia would supply fuel to the reactor six months from the start of production.
``The problem of equipment supplies is even worse than the lagging payments,'' said Andrei Cherkasenko, Chairman of ZAO Atompromresource, a non-state company that helps finance nuclear projects for the Russian government, in an e-mailed statement. A non-Russian company has agreed to supply the cooling systems, though no sooner than at the end of this year, Cherkasenko said, declining to name the company. ``That means the reactor cannot be completed for several months after this.''
| And just wait til Condi gets done with their banker ... |
Russia may not want to complete the reactor, said Ruslan Pukhov, director of Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. The $1.3 billion project, started in 1995, isn't profitable and has been a constant headache for Russia, he said. ``If Bushehr ceased to exist, it'd be easier for everyone involved, apart from the Iranians, of course,'' Pukhov said.
Heh.
Iranian negotiators are expected to fly to Moscow next week to discuss the Bushehr delays, RIA Novosti reported today, citing an unidentified Russian government official. |