国际英语新闻：Iran, Russia say Bushehr nuclear power plant no threat

TEHRAN, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chief of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant Mahmoud Jafari said Friday that the country's first nuclear power plant is highly safe, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"The power plant has been built based on the latest safety standards and is self-controlled in nature," Jafari told IRNA.

The method used in the power plant's construction will minimize the chance of any incident there, Jafari was quoted as saying.

"The possibility of any incident in the power plant, whose life span is about 40 years, is very low," said the nuclear official.

"No incident, like the one took place in Chernobyl in April, 1986, will happen there (in Bushehr)," he said, adding "even if the incidents break out, it (the power plant) will be capable of bringing them under its control."

Earlier in August, Jafari said the main tests and inspections of the power plant have been successfully carried out during the last six months.

Double-checks, "installations are completed and we are about to launch the power plant," Jafari was quoted as saying by IRNA.

Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Ministry said Friday that strict controls on the operation of Iran's new Bushehr nuclear plant would ensure that no fuel was siphoned off for other uses.

Russian-supported Bushehr nuclear plant was close to completion, and the physical launch of the plant was planned for Saturday with fuel being loaded into the tank, said a statement.

"The Bushehr project is unique in terms of providing a strict abidance of the nuclear non-proliferation regime. Fuel for the plant will be supplied by Russia on condition of its return," the statement said.

All the plant's operation, including fuel supply and return, would be under the full control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it said.

"The Bushehr project has been a visible example of how Iran could benefit from cooperation with the international community if it would undertake the practical steps to prove its nuclear program is fully peaceful," the statement said.