Instead, the opening was attended only by Energy Minister Sergey Shmatko and Sergey Kiriyenko, the chief of Rosatom, the firm that has been overseeing construction of the plant for what seems an eternity.
Iranian officials said months ago that either Medvedev or Putin would attend the formal opening. But neither man may have wanted to underscore Russia’s ties to Iran’s nuclear program with their presence.
The formal inauguration was rather low key although it was broadcast throughout Iran on state television.
The power plant was actually linked to the national power grid on September 3. So, Monday’s event was a formal event only. Furthermore, officials told reporters the reactor would soon be disconnected from the national grid for further work.
The Russian-built power station is “a symbol of Iranian-Russian cooperation,” Shmatko said in an address. Afterward, he told Iranian reporters, “Iran has joined the club of the advanced countries that possess atomic energy.”
Shmatko said Russia had no agreements with Iran to produce any more nuclear power reactors but was open to more nuclear projects.
Contrary to popular expectations, Iran will not operate the plant right away. Russian news sources said Russians will run the plant for up to five years before turning it over to Iran.
The date when the Bushehr nuclear power plant will reach full power has been put off yet another four months.
A few weeks ago, officials said the plant would reach full power of 1,000 megawatts in November. Then they said in December. At Monday’s formal inauguration ceremony, Mohammad Ahmadian, deputy chief of the Atomic Energy organization of Iran, told reporters he expected full power to be reached shortly before Now Ruz on March 21.
However, his boss, Fereydun Abbasi-Davani told reporters a publicly announced date for reaching full power was being avoided intentionally. He said he wanted to avoid pressuring the plant’s staff to cut safety standards in order to meet an arbitrary date.