The first unit of Bushehr nuclear power plant has begun operating at full capacity, Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom said on Friday.

"The reactor of Bushehr nuclear power plant’s Unit 1 was brought up to 100 per cent of its projected capacity at 18:47 local time on August 30," Atomstroyexport, an engineering company within Russia’s Rosatom, said, Reuters reported.

Vladimir Pavlov, vice-president of Atomstroyexport, who is in charge of the construction of the Iranian power plant, said the process of putting the 1st unit of Bushehr nuclear power plant into operation has been finished through which all equipment and systems of the plant were tested.

During the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, safety issues have always been the main priority, so choosing the capacity of the reactor has been taken in stages, Pavlov emphasized.

The construction of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant was begun in 1974 by German concern Kraftwerk Union (Siemens/KWU). But after the 1979's Islamic Revolution, the project remained unfinished.

On August 24, 1992, the Cooperation Agreement in the field of peaceful use of atomic energy was signed between the government of the Russian Federation and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and on August 25, 1992 the Agreement was concluded on construction of the nuclear power plant in Iran.

In January, 1995, the contract was signed to complete construction of power unit 1 of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.

In 1998 a supplement to the contract was signed according to which “Atomstroyexport” was assigned with management of the turn-key construction completion of unit 1 of 1000 MW installed electric capacity with V-446 reactor plant.

In fact the countdown to construction of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant by the Russian party began in 1998. In late January of 2011, Atomstroyexport did the physical launch of the plant.

This event is considered one of the most important steps in setting up nuclear power plants to generate electricity.