Iran To 'Remove Fuel' From Bushehr Nuclear Plant

The Bushehr plant has been beset by difficulties

Iran says it is removing the fuel from the reactor of its Russian-built nuclear power plant, a move seen as a blow to its nuclear program.

Iran's envoy to the UN atomic watchdog, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, told the ISNA news agency on February 26 that "based on the recommendation of Russia, which is in charge of completing the Bushehr atomic power plant, the fuel inside the reactor core will be taken out for a while to conduct some experiments and technical work."

The decision to remove the fuel from the reactor of the nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr comes just months before the facility, whose construction began in the 1970s, was scheduled to generate electricity.

In January, Iran's former atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi said the plant would be ready to generate electricity on April 9.

compiled from agency reports