Russia:  Nuclear Exports to Iran: Training and Know-How


To return to the main Nuclear Exports to Iran entry, see the Nuclear Exports to Iran file.

Training

A secret protocol to the January 1995 contract between Minatom and the Atomic Energy Agency of Iran reportedly opened negotiations on Russian training for Iranian nuclear specialists.[1] In March 1996, the Russian press reported that Iranian physicists and technicians for the Bushehr nuclear power plant would be trained at the Kurchatov Institute and the Novovoronezh nuclear power plant.[2] The Sunday Times reported in February 2002 that Iranian nuclear scientists visited the NIKIET scientific research institute in Moscow,[3] and in May 2002 Minister of Atomic Energy Rumyantsev announced that Russia would train 100 Iranian specialists to operate the Bushehr NPP, which will be operated for the first six years by a mixed Russian-Iranian crew.[4] The Guardian reported on 16 June 2003 that Russia is providing training to hundreds of Iranian specialists that will be involved in the operation of the Bushehr NPP. The article alleged that the training might inadvertently aid an Iranian nuclear weapons program, a charge vehemently denied by representatives of the Obninsk State Technical University of Atomic Energy, one of the institutions involved in the training.[5,6] ITAR-TASS reported on 10 July 2003 that to date more than 500 Iranian nuclear specialists who will work at the Bushehr NPP have received instruction in approximately 30 different disciplines at Russia's training center in Novovoronezh.[7]
Sources:
[1] David Albright et al., Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium 1996: World Inventories, Capabilities, and Policies (Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 358
[2] ITAR-TASS, 21 March 1996; in “Specialists to Train Iranians for Bushehr Nuclear Plant,” FBIS-SOV-96-057
[3] Sarah Baxter & Mark Franchetti, "Russia, Iran run N-school exchange," The Sunday Times, 6 February 2002, pg. 9; in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, http://web.lexis-nexis.com.
[4] Interfax, 28 May 2002; in "Russia to train around 100 Iranian engineers to operate Bushehr-1 nuclear plant," FBIS Document CEP20020528000137.
[5] Nick Paton Walsh, "Russian lessons," The Guardian online edition, http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,978077.00.html, 16 June 2003.
[6] NTV, 25 June 2003; in "Russian college says no nuclear 'secrets' being given to Iranian students," FBIS Document CEP20030625000290.
[7] Yuriy Khots, "Boleye 500 spetsialistov-atomshchikov iz Irana zavershili professionalnuyu podgotovku v Novovoronezhe," ITAR-TASS, 10 July 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.{entered 8/14/98 by FW} {Edited 9/4/2002 MJ} {Updated 11/19/2003 EMC} {Updated 12/1/2003 EMC}
 

Page last updated 24 March 2004
For more recent developments, see the Nuclear Exports to Iran Developments file.

Comments or questions? Contact Cristina Chuen at MIIS CNS: Cristina.Chuen@miis.edu

This material is produced independently for NTI by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2002 by MIIS.

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