Moscow, Tehran sign memorandum on building small NPPs in Iran - Rosatom

MOSCOW. Sept 24 (Interfax) - Russia and Iran have signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in building small nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Iran, Rosatom said in a statement following a meeting between Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev and Iranian Vice President Mohammad Eslami.

The memorandum envisages specific steps aimed at implementing this strategic project in Iran, the statement said.

At the meeting, the sides also discussed the progress made in the current projects and the future agenda for cooperation in civilian nuclear technology, it said.

Likhachev said in August 2025 that Iran was interested not only in large nuclear reactors but also in small ones, and negotiations on this issue were in progress.

Russia already has a large NPP project in Iran's Bushehr. Its first 1,000MW reactor unit was delivered to the Iranian client in 2013. Construction of the plant's second stage (the second and third reactor units with a total capacity of 2,100 MW) began in 2016. The second reactor unit was due to be ready in 2024, and the third in 2026.

Likhachev said in late February that the venue for another nuclear power plant to be built in Iran by Russian blueprints had been chosen, but the work would not begin for a long time.