OREANDA-NEWS. On March 26, 2007 Atomstroyexport has received the first payment for the construction of Bushehr NPP in Iran since the stoppage of the financing, reports the Federal Agency of the Nuclear Energy Sector. The Russian side has welcomed this step of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Meanwhile, the assistant to the head of Rosatom Sergey Novikov says: "It is good that our Iranian partners have overcome their difficulties, but this is not enough for solving the problems accrued during the period of non-payment". Concerning the amount of the payment, he says: "Under normal conditions, it would cover half of the monthly expenses". Novikov notes that Atomstroyexport continues its work under the project. Over 2,000 Russian specialists are working on the site.


As was reported earlier, the Iranian side had problems with paying to Atomstroyexport under the project. If in the fourth quarter of 2006 Atomstroyexport received 60% of the financing, in Jan 2007 - less than 25%, in Feb - nothing at all. Three-day Moscow talks between Atomstroyexport and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran gave no results: the Russian side refused to sign any joint documents. A week later the talks were continued in Tehran, but they were also fruitless. In the meantime, Atomstoryexport continued the work. The head of Rosatom Sergey Kiriyenko confirmed the readiness of the Russian side to fuel Bushehr six months before its launch but noted that for that moment the date of the launch had already been put off for at least two months.

 
The Iranian sides also had problems with equipment supplies from third countries, this, particularly, referring to the cooling system for the reactor. Experts said that the non-payment might delay the project. Last week Russia and Iran made a pause in their talks. The Atomstroyexport delegation came back from Tehran to Moscow because of Novruz and two-week official recess in Iran. The talks will be resumed after the holidays. The contract for the completion of the 1st unit was signed in Tehran on Jan 8, 1995. Russia has also pledged to deliver a WWER-1000 reactor, to supply fuel and to train the Iranian personnel. The additional protocol to the contract says that the project should be completed on Sept 26 2006, while the fuel should be supplied in Mar 2007 - six months before the launch.