Iran says first nuclear plant linked to grid

AFP - Iran's first nuclear power plant was hooked up to the national grid on Saturday evening supplying 60 megawatts of its 1,000 megawatt capacity, the Atomic Energy Organisation announced on Sunday.

"Last night at 11:29 pm (1859 GMT) the Bushehr power plant was connected with 60 megawatts to the national grid," the organisation's spokesman Hamid Khadem Qaemi, told Arabic-language television channel Al-Alam.

The connection of the Russian-built plant in southern Iran to the national grid was originally scheduled for the end of 2010 but was delayed several times because of technical problems.

The plant was started up in November 2010 but repeated technical problems delayed its operation, leading to the removal of its fuel rods in March.