RUSSIA TRAINS NEARLY 1,000 TECHNICIANS FOR BUSHEHRMOSCOW [MENL] -- Russia has accelerated an effort to train more than 1,000 Iranian technicians to operate the Bushehr nuclear reactor in Iran in 2006.
Officials said Russian institutes have been training Iranians to operate Bushehr in time for the launch the facility, expected in late 2006. They said the training was part of the $1 billion Bushehr project, which has so far been three years behind schedule.
The training program has been sponsored by the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency. The Novovoronezh center of the Russian Rosenergoatom Atomic Energy Concern has trained 650 Iranian technians to operate Bushehr. The technicians received classroom instruction before moving on to help operate a Russian nuclear facility.
In Washington, senior U.S. officials said the Bush administration has decided to join the European Union in offering Iran incentives to end its uranium enrichment and other programs relating to the production of nuclear weapons. The officials said Britain, France and Germany have agreed in exchange to bring the issue of Iran's nuclear program to the United Nations Security Council should Teheran fail to abandon its nuclear weapons effort.