(Adnkronos) – Russia and Iran have signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of small-sized nuclear power plants in the Islamic Republic. This was announced by Rosatom, specifying that the agreement was signed in Moscow by the general director of the Russian state-owned nuclear company, Alexei Likhachev, and the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami. Rosatom called the project “strategic”.
Eslami, who is also vice president of Iran, explained to local media that the memorandum provides for the construction of eight plants, with the aim of reaching a production of 20 gigawatts from nuclear energy by 2040.
Iran, which suffers from electricity shortages during the hottest months of the year, currently has only one operational nuclear power plant, in the southern city of Bushehr. It was built by Russia and has a capacity of about one gigawatt.
