Back in November, the public was told that the Bushehr nuclear power plant had not been delayed again and in fact, was expected to come on line a month earlier than previously expected.
Fereydun Abbasi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, announced then that the plant should be running at full power and linked to the national grid during the celebrations of the anniversary of the revolution from February 1 to 11.
That time has now passed and there has been no further word on when the plant will be linked to the grid.
The plant now is just slightly more than 13 years overdue. The 1995 contract with the Russians called for the plant to be completed by January 1999.
Over the years, there have been constant delays and new completion dates pushed far out into the future. In recent months, for example, officials announced June 19 that the plant would be completed in early August. On August 15, the finish date was proclaimed to be “about” December. On September 12, that was changed to “before” Now Ruz.
The plant was actually linked to the national grid September 3, though at very low output. It has been connected and disconnected and run at various levels since then.
