The construction, however, was suspended with Germany abandoning the project due to international diplomatic pressures in 1978, the year before the Iranian Revolution took place.
The Bushehr NPP was reinitiated after a civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement was signed between Iran and Russia in August 1992 and the construction works were restarted at the site in January 1996.
The plant is owned by Iran through its nuclear division, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
Bushehr, built with Russian technology, has been operational since 2011. It is the 1st civilian nuclear energy generating facility in the Middle East.
The Bushehr-1 reactor unit obtained an operational license after the construction of the facility in 2010.
It was connected to the grid in September 2011, while commercial operation started in September 2013.
Busher-1 produced 5,865 GWh of electricity in 2019.
Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned Rosatom was awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the 2nd and 3rd reactor units at the Bushehr NPP in November 2014.
The main construction of the Bushehr-2 reactor unit was started in September 2019.
Bushehr-2 is scheduled for commissioning in 2025.
Bushehr-3 is expected to come online in 2027, which will increase the total net generating capacity at the site to 3GW.
Each reactor will have an operating life of approximately 60 years.
The Bushehr NPP must be switched off every 10 months of power generation for fuel replacement and maintenance.
Russia provides fuel for Bushehr and the plant is closely monitored by the IAEA.
