Bushehr NPP - dollars or euro?

JSC Atomstroyexport expects that the delegation of Iranian nuclear experts will come in Moscow soon for discussing of Bushehr NPP payment status.

Recently, we face difficult situation because of lack of financial support from the Iranian side and troubles with ordering third party equipment, the Atomstroyexport spokeswoman Irina Essipova said. The level of payment by Iranian customer wad dropped in January down to 25%, and quite nothing was paid in February.

One more question to be urgently discussed with Iranian partners is the unilateral decision of Iranian banks to use euros, not dollars as an instrument of payment. While acceptable as a whole, such a determination shall be agreed by both Russian and Iranian sides and stated as a amendment to the contract for Bushehr NPP construction.

Anyway, no decision is made by the JSC Atomstroyexport company to freeze or cancel its activity in Bushehr site. Based on the schedule, the Bushehr-1 start-up is planned on summer, and the connection to grid will happen till the end of year.

Tomsk governor asks to accelerate decision-making for Seversk NPP

Another Russian region, namely, West-Siberian Tomsk oblast, is joining the race for NPP orders.

The Tomsk governor Victor Kress urges the prime-minister and government of the Russian Federation to consider the construction of nuclear plant in Seversk, small suburb of Tomsk city.

In recent times, the idea to build Seversk NPP has been risen periodically. However, it is still not clear who will pay for construction of two VVER-1000 units. Possibly, the Siberian reactors will be supported by private investors.

SOURCE: AtomInfo.Ru

DATE: Feb 21, 2007

Topics: NPP, Russia, Asia, Iran, NPP Bushehr