Iran loads fuel into the Bushehr nuclear reactor

Iran has begun loading fuel into the core of its first nuclear power plant, state television has reported.

It marks a key stage in the firing up of the Bushehr plant, which is set to produce electricity from 2011.

Russia will operate the facility in southern Iran, supplying its nuclear fuel and taking away the nuclear waste.

Iran's separate uranium enrichment programme has alarmed Western nations, who distrust Iran's claims it is solely for peaceful purposes.

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Iran nuclear crisis

• Will fuelling Bushehr lead to a bomb?
• Squeezing Iran: Oil and sanctions
• Q&A: Iran nuclear issue
• UN sanctions against Iran

Iran has been subject to four rounds of UN sanctions because of its nuclear programme.

Experts say that as long as the Bushehr plant is Russian-operated and supervised by the UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), there is little chance of proliferation.

German engineers began work on the Bushehr nuclear facility in 1975. The project has been plagued by delays, but completed with help from Russia.

'Green light'

The uranium fuel it will use is well below the enrichment level needed for a nuclear weapon. Weapons-grade uranium must be enriched by more than 90%. In contrast, the uranium at Bushehr is enriched by 3.5%.

In fact, there are strong suspicions that West has given a green light to the reactor being fired up in a behind-the-scenes deal with Russia, says the BBC's Iran correspondent Jon Leyne.

Under this deal, it is believed that Washington agreed to the opening of the reactor in return for Russian support for new sanctions on Iran.

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Bushehr safeguards

• Plant is Russian built and operated
• Russia to supply fuel and remove waste
• International monitors to check that fuel and waste are not diverted

The real danger perceived by the West and Israel is elsewhere, our correspondent says - the production by Iran of its own uranium enriched to fuel grade.

It has begun a pilot program to enrich uranium to 20% - which it says is needed for a medical research reactor.

Some governments fear Tehran wants to build a nuclear weapon, but Iran insists its plans are for peaceful energy production.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11625058