Russia to activate reactor at Iran’s nuclear plant

　　MOSCOW, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Russia is set to activate a reactor at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant on Aug. 21, Russia’s state-run atomic energy corporation Rosatom said on Friday.

　　The spokesman of Rosatom said that Russia will help load the reactor with fuel, which would be a key step toward starting up the reactor at Iran’s first nuclear power plant.

　　"The fuel will be loaded on Aug. 21," Rosatom spokesmen Sergei Novikov was quoted by Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

　　"This is the start of the physical launch (of the reactor)," he said.

　　Rosatom director Sergei Kiriyenko and head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi will be at the launching ceremony, Interfax news agency reported.

　　Russia has been helping Iran build the plant since the mid-1990s. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in March that Russia planned to start up the reactor at the Bushehr plant this summer.