Russia delays Iran nuclear plant to 2008: RIA

Moscow, July 25: Russia has no chance of finishing Iran'sfirst nuclear power station before autumn 2008, a year behind theoriginal schedule, a Russian subcontractor helping to build the planttold RIA news agency today.

Russia has used the Bushehr nuclear plant as a lever in relationswith Tehran which chilled this year after a row over missed paymentsfor building the plant in southwest Iran.

''Today we can say for sure that to launch the Bushehr nuclearplant this autumn is unrealistic,'' said Ivan Istomin, the head of asubcontractor working for the Russian state-owned firm building theplant, RIA reported.

''A realistic time frame for starting the reactor... is moving toautumn 2008,'' he said. Istomin, is head of Energoprogress, asubcontractor of Atomstroiexport.

Russian arms sales and nuclear cooperation with Iran have strainedrelations with Washington, which suspects Tehran of using seeking todevelop atomic weapons under the cover of its civilian nuclearprogramme.

Moscow says Tehran does not have the capability to make nuclearweapons. But some senior officials in Moscow are wary of relations withIran and say Russia's interests are not served by Iran gaining nuclearweapons.

Iran says it has a right to develop its civilian nuclear sectorand that its nuclear programme is not aimed at developing nuclear arms.

Russia has said it will stick to the project, worth about $1 billion to Russian companies.

But in February it delayed the launch of the plant -- planned forSeptember 2007 -- citing payment problems. Russia also delayed sendingnuclear fuel to Bushehr as it had earlier planned for March 2007.

Russia has repeatedly postponed the opening date for the plant,citing technical difficulties and a lack of payments from Tehran.

Because of the sensitivity of ties with Iran, the delays are often announced by state run companies working on the plant.

The Bushehr plant is being build on the foundations of adifferently designed station started before the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Senior Russian officials also express exasperation with Tehran'snegotiating tactics and the more extreme pronouncements of IranianPresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for wiping Israel fromthe world's map.

Reuters