"We will start the preliminary launch of this project by Iranian experts early next year after conducting different tests in the Bushehr (nuclear) power plant," Abbasi told reporters.
Given the fact that the time for transferring the full control of the Bushehr nuclear power plant from the Russian contractor to an Iranian one is nearing, the necessary grounds should be prepared for the development of the power plant which is due to generate 4,000 to 6,000MW of electricity, he added.
Late in May, Abbasi announced that Iran's first nuclear power plant will reach its full power generation capacity late in autumn.
"Bushehr (nuclear) power plant will reach its maximum capacity in (the Iranian) month of Azar (November 21 to December 20)," Abbasi said in Tehran.
He added that the Russian contractor in charge of the construction of the power plant will also deliver full control of the facility to Iranian experts in the same month.
The power plant's utmost power for the generation of electricity is 1,000mw.
Iran signed a deal with Russia in 1995, according to which the plant was originally scheduled for completion in 1999. However, the project was repeatedly delayed by the Russian side due to the intense pressure exerted on Moscow by the United States and its western allies. Russia finally completed physical construction of the plant last summer, but the facility still needed one more year to gradually reach full power generation capacity.
On October 26, 2010, Iran started injecting fuel into the core of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the initial phase of launching the nuclear reactor.
In 2011 Iran started using 500MW of nuclear-generated electricity, half the nominal capacity of the Bushehr power plant.
Iran held a ceremony in September to mark the preliminary launch of the Bushehr plant.
The facility operates under the full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
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