Russia to submit proposals for new nuclear capacity in Iran in three months - minister

TEHRAN. Feb 18 (Interfax) - Russia's Rosatom corporation will consider building several more small and large-capacity units in Iran in addition to the second and third units of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant already under construction there, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev told reporters following a meeting of the Russian-Iranian intergovernmental commission, which he co-chairs.

"We continue to build the nuclear power plant's second and third units. We are also exploring the construction of additional small and large-capacity units in Iran," Tsivilev said.

He said a joint task force had been set up to look at this issue and submit its proposals in three months.

Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev said In August 2025 that Iran was interested not only in large nuclear reactors but also in small ones, and that negotiations on this subject are underway.

Russia already has one large NPP project in Iran - Bushehr. Its first power unit with capacity of 1,000 MW was handed over to the Iranian customer in 2013. In 2016, construction of the second stage consisting of power units 2 and 3 with total capacity of 2,100 MW got underway. Work on the second power unit was planned for completion in 2024 and on the third power unit in 2026.

At the end of February 2025, Likhachev said that a site for another Russian-designed NPP in Iran had been determined, but the start of work on it was still far off.