Iran expects nuclear electricity in 2009

TEHRAN, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- The first nuclear power plant in Iran is expected to generate its first electricity by March 2009, a government spokesman said Saturday.

The Bushehr plant's construction has been delayed in the past. Russia, which is building the plant, blamed the delay on Iran's failure to make payments on the $1 billion project.

But officials say the project is now on track. Russia recently began fuel deliveries to the plant.

"In line with a timetable of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, electricity to be generated by the Bushehr nuclear power plant will flow into the country's power grid next year," spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham said.

In the Iranian calendar, March 21 is the first day of the new year.

A new year in Iran begins on March 21 and finishes on March 20.