Photos by Arash Khamooshi, ISNA

Iranian and foreign reporters visited Bushehr nuclear power plant on Wednesday.

BUSHEHR, Feb. 25 (Mehr News Agency) - The test run of the Bushehr nuclear power plant began on Wednesday. The test involved the use of non-nuclear material instead of enriched uranium.

The trial began as Gholamreza Aqazadeh, the director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), and Sergei Kiriyenko, chief executive officer of Rosatom Corp, made a visit to the plant in southern Iran.

"We're celebrating Bushehr's pre-commissioning which means we are getting closer to the launch of the plant," Aqazadeh told reporters. "This virtual fuel testing was successful."

The reactor's operation is expected to begin later this year.

In the first stage of operation, it will provide Iran's southern provinces with 500 megawatts of electricity, Aqazadeh explained.

"We hope that in a few months it will supply electricity to this region," Aghazadeh said.

Kiriyenko also praised the successful test of the reactor.

"In recent months there have been significant improvements. I'm very satisfied with what I saw," Kiriyenko told reporters.

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