Russia’s Rosatom in ‘large-scale’ talks with Iran to build another power plant: CEO

The head of Russia’s state-owned atomic energy corporation Rosatom says the company is in talks with Iran to construct another nuclear power plant in the country.

Alexey Likhachev announced at the International Future Technologies Forum in Moscow on Friday that Rosatom is engaged in “large-scale negotiations” with the Iranian government.

"We see Iran's government taking an active stance in advancing nuclear energy. On our end, we are accelerating our efforts and are engaged in large-scale negotiations regarding the next site for nuclear energy development in Iran," Likhachev said.

Stressing that the timeline for the project depends on the Iranian side, the Rosatom CEO said a location for the new nuclear plant has been determined but construction has yet to begin.

"As you understand, we can only proceed at the pace set by the client—the government," he said. “The site has been selected, the approximate location is known, but the start of work is still a long way off.”

Providing no further details on the location of the new nuclear power plant in Iran, Likhachev said, “It's a large site.”

On the ongoing construction at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, he said that Rosatom is working very actively on the project for the plant's second and third reactor units.

Iran building two more units at Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant: AEOI chief

Official says Iran is pursuing establishment of the second and third units of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.

Likhachev pointed to what he claimed to be Iran’s “debt” over the construction of the Bushehr power plant and emphasized that it has significantly decreased.

"Of course, debts always exist in the course of project development. That's the nature of business - we carry out construction work, complete various stages and present the results to the customer. The customer reviews them and then makes a payment decision. In this sense, debt always exists until the facility is delivered," he said.

"It should be noted that in recent years, this debt has fallen significantly.”

Likhachev announced an agreement between Tehran and Moscow for collaboration on both large and small nuclear power plants after talks between Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on January 17, 2025.

Last month, Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, said in a press conference that Tehran, in cooperation with Moscow, has completed the first unit of the Bushehr nuclear plant and is currently constructing the second and third units.

Jalali confirmed that negotiations are ongoing with Russia to build additional nuclear plants in Iran.

He added that a 5,000-megawatt nuclear power capacity agreement, including large-scale plants and small modular reactors, had been reached during Pezeshkian’s visit to Moscow.

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