Russia's nuclear energy agency plans to have Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant ready for technical launch sometime during 2009, it was reported on Thursday. On the same day, a Russian space corporation president commented on Iran's global missile capabilities. Rosatom Nuclear Energy State Corporation Director Sergei Kiriyenko told reporters in Moscow that Bushehr will come online very soon, according to Russia's Interfax news agency. Barring any "unexpected events," Kiriyenko said, "the launch of the plant is expected to take place this year. I am personally intend to visit Bushehr this month." In 2007, the Bushehr plant was initially expected to come on-line by March 2008 and then by the end of that year. In January 2009, when the launch was again put off, Iran's envoy to Russia commented to a local newspaper, "Iran did not believe that the Russian side has deliberately delayed completion of the 1,000-MW power plant in Bushehr." The expected launch will be a test run for Bushehr's systems, but will not yet include power supply production for civilian consumers. Israel and the United States initially believed that Bushehr was part of the Iranian nuclear weapons program; however, the plant was excluded from United Nations sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. Also on Thursday, the head of the Russian Energia space exploration and rocket development corporation, V. A. Lopota, said that Iran's missiles can now reach any spot on Earth. His comments, reported by Interfax, came on the heels of Iran's claimed successful launch of a satellite into orbit.
