TEHRAN – President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has invited foreign countries to join Iran in building nuclear power plants.

The Islamic Republic is approaching the peak of nuclear development and will not relinquish one iota of its nuclear rights, Ahmadinejad told a crowed in the southern city of Bushehr.
He said Bushehr nuclear power plant is expected to become operational in the summer of 2008.
Russia has promised that the Bushehr nuclear power station will be connected to the power grid in the next Iranian calendar year (starts March 20, 2008), added the president.
Ahmadinejad said, “Today the powers that had earlier adopted an anti-Iran stance acknowledge that Iran was in the right and this is the result of the Iranian nation’s perseverance.”
Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West, which has posed the most serious challenge to the country since the Islamic Revolution, is moving towards the end as a result of Tehran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the president observed.
----------- Bushehr nuclear plant to come on stream in Sept.
Deputy Director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ahmad Fayyazbakhsh said that the Bushehr nuclear power plant will begin test operation by Sept. 2008.
Iran on Monday received the eighth and final consignment of nuclear fuel from Russia for the Bushehr plant.
The fuel will be spent within a year and then will be returned to Russia, Fayyazbakhsh told reporters in a press conference.
He added that Tehran has paid the total cost of consignments valued at $52 million.
Fayyazbakhsh, who heads the production and development unit of AEOI, said out of 50,000 tons of equipment, 48,100 tons has been transferred to the power plant and 1,900 tons, including precision instruments and a ventilation system, have yet to be delivered to Iran.
He said 18 percent of the station has been manufactured domestically.
---------- Darkhovin plant to be fed with locally-produced nuclear fuel in 2016
Fayyazbakhsh said the 360 megawatt Darkhovin nuclear power plant will become operational in 2016 in the southwestern town of Darkhovin.
The station is to be fed with domestically produced fuel, said the official, adding that the International Atomic Energy Agency will monitor the construction process.
He also invited tenders for the building of more nuclear power plants in Iran.
“By offering tenders, Iran has showed its determination to cooperate with other countries in peaceful nuclear activities,” said the official.
“Although some companies have expressed interest in cooperating with Iran in building power plants, we have not yet received any official request.”
“Iran’s offer is still on the table and any country which recognizes Iran’s right is invited to participate in the tenders,” he added.
Fayyazbakhsh said the Islamic Republic plans to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear energy.
According to the estimates, 17.5 percent of the country’s electricity demand is expected to be generated through nuclear energy in the next two decades, he added