TEHRAN, July 5 (RIA Novosti, Nikolai Terekhov) - The head of the Russian Audit Chamber, the country's financial watchdog, said Russia was interested in building more power units at the nuclear power plant in Bushehr, Iran. "While visiting the first unit of the Bushehr nuclear power plant being built by Russian specialists, Russian and Iranian officials discussed whether Russia would take part in the construction of second, third, and fourth units," Sergei Stepashin said. Stepashin said: "Russia is prepared for and genuinely interested in this."
"However, the question is what the current Iranian government means by the new nuclear policy of the Islamic Republic," said Stepashin.
"Russia will continue constructing more power units in Bushehr if Russia, Europe and Iran will succeed in coordinating their positions on Iran's nuclear programs," he said.
"Iran's nuclear programs are a sore point in the current negotiation process," Stepashin said. He added that it was important to see how existing agreements were observed, which primarily concerned the positions of the International Atomic Energy Agency and European countries.
According to him, the first unit of the Bushehr plant will be put into operation in late 2006. Stepashin said everything was ready with exception of a few technical problems remaining.
"It is worth mentioning that we have a capable team working at the plant. Another 500 Russian specialists are expected to join it soon," he added.
"This team of specialists is ready to complete the construction and in next five or six months can start drafting agreements on the construction of other power units in Bushehr," Stepashin said.
