BUSHEHR, Iran, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Iran's first nuclear power plant was connected to the national power grid, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran announced Sunday.
The Bushehr plant supplied 60 megawatts of its 1,000 megawatt capacity as of Saturday night, an amount that should expand to 40 percent capacity at the facility's official launch Sept. 12. The nuclear power plant could pave the wave for the first atomic power plant in the Middle East, The Iranian Students News Agency reported.
The Bushehr nuclear power plant has been under development for more than three decades. It was initially derailed following the 1979 Islamic Revolution of Iran.
The Russian Ministry for Atomic Energy signed a deal in 1995 to assist in the completion of the project but financial problems and pressure from the West caused further delays and construction nearly stopped in 2007.
AEOI Head Fereydoun Abbasi said the official inauguration of the plant should occur in late November or early December, at which point it will be running at full capacity, Iran's Press TV reported.
