MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia plans to sign a contract with Iran this year to build two more nuclear reactors at its Bushehr power plant as part of a broader deal for up to eight reactors in the Islamic state, a source close to the negotiations told Reuters on Thursday.
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It was not immediately clear how this might affect six global powers' talks with Iran addressing disputed aspects of its nuclear program. Iran has resisted demands for cuts in its uranium enrichment capacity, pointing to plans for a future network of nuclear power stations.
Western powers want any lasting agreement with Iran to put to rest suspicions that it could develop nuclear weapons-making ability through enrichment. Iran denies any such intent.
The talks ended last week with little progress; they are to resume in Vienna in June.
Russia, one of the six powers, built Iran's only operating nuclear power reactor, at Bushehr.
"Russia and Iran may sign an intergovernmental agreement this year on building from four to eight nuclear reactors, and, under the deal, the contract for the construction of the first two reactors as additions to Bushehr," the source said.
Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom said earlier it was in talks with Iran on the potential construction of more reactors there but revealed no details. Rosatom officials could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday.
Longstanding Western fears that the Bushehr project could yield spent fuel of use in nuclear weapons - something it denies it is seeking to do - receded after Iran promised to send the material back to Russia.
Moscow voted for four rounds of U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran over its contested nuclear activity but has sharply criticized additional measures imposed by the United States and European Union, calling them a hindrance to diplomacy in search of a permanent settlement with Tehran.
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http://news.yahoo.com/russia-may-build-eight-nuclear-reactors-iran-134635604.htmlI know the western freak show over Iran going nuclear is way overblown but it is sure used as a boogyman by neocons (the war on terror was yesteryear's boogy) to maintain support w/i the republican party by pretending to be defense hawks which shrouds their whoring for MIC profits. Anyone remember the clip of Obama whispering to Putin prior to his reelection saying that afterwards he'd have more leeway in foreign affairs.. I wouldn't be surprised if this Ukraine stuff and this nuclear biz is all meant to keep money flowing to weapons and tech innovation for all related top world companies as sort of a shell cold war 2.0 game. It's obvious to anyone w/ any semblance of intelligence that the US has already sold the farm and there's no financial way out besides inflation and war games to provide cover and shift domestic tension elsewhere the best they can. Think of the way North Korea plays their cards.
"Russia, one of the six powers, built Iran's only operating nuclear power reactor, at Bushehr."
This is the sort of disinformation that misleads the American public. Russia didn't "build" that nuclear power reactor. Russia "completed" the nuclear power reactor project that was abandoned by Germany following the 1979 Revolution. That project was the brain child of the US espoused by then US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, in his "atoms for peace" initiative. It supported the idea of building nuclear power plants in Iran to meet domestic energy demands in order to free up the extra hydrocarbons for export. Also, in the 60s/70s, it had been projected that Iran's oil reserves would have been exhausted by 2010 and the general consensus among the Western nations was that Iran needed nuclear power to secure its energy supply.
Today, the West pretends as if the idea of Iran wanting nuclear energy for domestic use is completely absurd.
