Iran starts building unit 2 of Bushehr nuclear plant

Construction and installation work formally started yesterday at the site of unit 2 of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, Atomproekt, the reactor design subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, announced today. The first foundation stone for units 2 and 3 of the plant was laid in a ceremony held at the construction site in southern Iran in September last year.

AtomStroyExport (ASE) – another Rosatom subsidiary and the general contractor for the Bushehr project – and Nuclear Power Production and Development Company (NPPD) of Iran signed an EPC turnkey contract for construction of the units at Bushehr in November 2014. The two VVER-1000 units will be built with Generation III+ technology, including the latest safety features, and have a combined capacity of 2100 MWe, ASE has said. During the ceremony held on 10 September, the two sides signed a protocol on the start of work on the project to build units 2 and 3, known as Bushehr II.

Russian-built Bushehr 1 was connected to the national grid on 3 September 2011 and became the first nuclear power plant in the Middle East.

Bushehr units 2 and 3 are to be completed in 2024 and 2026, respectively.

Last September, ASE director Valery Limarenko said Rosatom is keen on the “wide use” of Iranian-made materials and would therefore invite Iranian manufacturing companies to compete to work on the project via contract tenders.

Rosatom has said previously that Bushehr II is expected to cost about $10 billion to build, and that the physical start-ups of unit 2 and unit 3 are planned for October 2024 and April 2026, respectively. Provisional acceptance of unit 2 by the Iranian customer is scheduled for August 2025 and that for unit 3 in February 2027.