Iran receives uranium from Russia

TEHRAN, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Despite years of delay and protests by the United States and other Western countries, Russia delivered the first of 80 tons of uranium to Iran.

"So far, 95 percent of the Bushehr nuclear plant construction has been completed," said Reza Aghazadeh, chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Agency. "We promise that by next year the plant will be linked to the national electricity grid."

The comments were reported by the Los Angeles Times.

The nuclear fuel rods will power a plant being built in the southern port city of Bushehr by Russia's state-owned Atomstroyexport Corp.

Delivery of the rest of the 80 tons of uranium fuel to Bushehr will take up to two months, said Irina Yesipova, an Atomstroyexport spokeswoman.

"We started to supply Iran with nuclear fuel for the Bushehr project in accordance with our contract obligations," she said.

The 1,000-megawatt Bushehr light-water reactor broke ground with U.S. encouragement in the 1970s, but recently Iran's nuclear program has become controversial.