The Central Bank of Iran is expected to allocate the first budget funds for the construction of two new reactor units at the NPP by early December, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, was quoted as saying by the Islamic Republic News Agency. Salehi said the total budget for the project to build two Russian VVER 1000 units will be about €8.8bn ($9.3bn) and it will take about 10 years to complete. The amount of the first instalment was not disclosed. Iran and Russia signed an agreement to build two more units at the existing Bushehr site in November 2014. Bushehr-1 is Iran’s only commercial nuclear unit. The 915MWe pressurised water reactor was supplied by Russia and began commercial operation in September 2013. The first new unit (Bushehr-2) is scheduled to begin operating in October 2024 and the second in April 2026. The first concrete for Bushehr-2 is expected in the third quarter of 2019.
