Download coordinates as: The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (Persian: نیروگاه اتمی بوشهر) is a nuclear power plant in Iran 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) south of Tehran (17 kilometres (11 mi) southeast of the city of Bushehr), between the fishing villages of Halileh and Bandargeh along the Persian Gulf.

Later, a contract for finishing the plant was signed between Iran and the Russian Ministry for Atomic Energy in 1995, with Russia's Atomstroyexport named as the main contractor.

After construction was again in danger of being stopped in 2007, a renewed agreement was reached in which the Iranians promised to compensate for rising costs and inflation after completion of the plant.

[citation needed] The project is considered unique in terms of its technology, the political environment and the challenging physical climate.

In August 1974, the Shah said, "Petroleum is a noble material, much too valuable to burn... We envision producing, as soon as possible, 23,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity using nuclear plants".

Kraftwerk Union was eager to work with the Iranian government because, as its spokesman said in 1976, "To fully exploit our nuclear power plant capacity, we have to land at least three contracts a year for delivery abroad.

In 1990, Iran began to look outwards towards partners for its nuclear program; however, due to a radically different political climate and punitive U.S. economic sanctions, few candidates existed.

[1] Russia's main contractor for the project, Atomstroyexport, would install a V-320 915 MWe VVER-1000 pressurized water reactor into the existing Bushehr I building, with commissioning originally expected in 2001.

[12][14][15] The Bushehr Nuclear Plant project is considered unique in terms of technology, the political environment and the challenging physical climate.

[1][3] Financial problems, inflation, and the need to integrate German and Russian technology have made the project difficult for the participants.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian government ended its subsidies to contractors building power plants for foreign customers, putting Atomstroyexport in financial difficulties.

[1] The extremely hot and humid climate of the Bushehr area, with significant amounts of brine in the air due to the proximity of the ocean, represented a special challenge for the construction.

In such conditions, even stainless steel can rust, and a special painting technology had to be developed to protect the station's structural elements.

[1] A top Iranian nuclear official claimed that the Russians were deliberately delaying and politicising the project under European and American pressure.

For example, Ukraine's Turboatom was to supply a turbine, but cancelled the deal after the US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's visit to Kyiv on 6 March 1998.

The United States lifted its opposition to the project in 2005, partly due to the deal signed by Moscow and Tehran, under which spent fuel from the plant would be sent back to Russia.

[1][12] In 2007, according to Moscow Defense Brief, Russia made a strategic decision to finish the plant,[1] and in December 2007 started to deliver nuclear fuel to the site.

[25] On 27 November 2010, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran declared that "All fuel assemblies have been loaded into the core of the reactor" and they were hoping that the facility "will hook up with the national grid in one or two months".

[27] The reactor achieved a sustained nuclear reaction at 11:12 on 8 May 2011 and ran at a minimum power level for final commissioning tests.

[citation needed] Before the plant will reach full capacity in November, it will be disconnected from the grid for several weeks to make a number of tests.

Abbasi was quoted "that hopefully the Bushehr plant will be connected to the national grid at its full capacity in late April.

[31] On 19 June 2021, the power plant's reactor underwent an emergency shutdown due to unspecified reasons that would last at least three to four days for repairs.

[9] Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation, Rosatom, started site preparation of the two unit VVER-1000 nuclear power plant with a combined capacity of 2100 MWe in September 2016.

Although in 2007 Iran agreed to compensate for the rising costs after the construction is finished, it is regarded that the possibility of the project turning a profit are remote.

However, the project allowed the nuclear industry of Russia to preserve its expertise in times when funding was scarce, and until the sector started to receive orders from China and India.

[1] According to Moscow Defense Brief, completion of the plant could become an indicator of Russia's credibility in large international high technology projects, and the successful integration of German and Russian technology could help the Russian nuclear industry in its ambitions to partner with foreign companies in building nuclear power plants in Russia and abroad.

[12] Aging equipment at the plant has also been a problem and, in February 2011, a 30-year-old German cooling pump broke, sending metal debris into the system.

[41][42] Leaders from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have expressed fears that a serious nuclear accident at the Bushehr plant would spread radiation throughout the region.

Bushehr is closer to Persian Gulf capitals (Kuwait City, Manama, Doha, Abu Dhabi, and Muscat) than it is to Tehran.