Tehran:
Iran said on Tuesday that it had begun loading the first of 163 fuel rods into the core of its first nuclear reactor, set to go into operation early next year, and vowed to pursue nuclear activities "in other areas."
Iran's nuclear program has spread deep concerns in the West because governments, including the United States, believe Tehran has ambitions to build a nuclear weapon and do not accept its denials.
The United States once opposed the Russian-built Bushehr plant in the south of the country but dropped its objections after Russia provided assurances over the fuel supply and the disposal of spent fuel roads that can be used to makes weapons-grade plutonium. Russia has agreed to take back spent fuel.
The plant is supposed to be supervised by inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, the United Nations nuclear watchdog based in Vienna. It was not clear if IAEA inspectors were present when the fuel-loading began.
Ramin Mehmanparast, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on Tuesday: "Political pressure and sanctions have not prevented Iran from proceeding with its peaceful nuclear activities according to schedule."
"The Bushehr power plant is a major project which will help us to take one step toward future alternative energy supplies," he said, according to the semiofficial IRNA news agency. "We will also pursue our peaceful nuclear activities in other areas." He did not give details.
The loading of fuel at the reactor was initially supposed to begin soon after fuel was transported there in August, but was delayed by a leak. Iranian officials have denied that the delay was caused by a computer virus on the laptops of several employees at Bushehr.
Speaking to workers at the plant, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, said the Bushehr facility "is the most exceptional power plant in the world and it is right now at the critical stage of transferring fuel into the core of the reactor which is the last stage of the process."
Mr. Salehi said that the plant would begin to feed the national power grid within three months.
Under its normal procedures, IAEA inspectors would oversee the final processes of fuel-loading and then seal the core of the reactor to prevent tampering. The reactor is also supposed to be kept under surveillance by closed circuit television cameras that would detect any movement of fuel.
The procedures to load the fuel and carry out tests at the 1,000-megawatt plant could take several weeks before engineers begin to withdraw so-called control roads, allowing nuclear activity to begin, experts said.
The Bushehr reactor, cast by Tehran as a show-case of its peaceful nuclear intentions, is separate from other more contentious operations elsewhere in the country where Iran is seeking to enrich uranium. Iran says it wants the enrichment facilities to provide fuel for future reactor use and for a medical research reactor. But the West and Israel suspect those programs are designed to produce weapons-grade fuel.
The loading at Bushehr came at a delicate diplomatic juncture, with tighter sanctions ordered against Tehran by the United Nations Security Council, the United States and the European Union, coupled with an invitation to Iran to join international powers for talks in Vienna in mid-November.
Iran has not yet formally accepted the invitation.
In response to the sanctions - the harshest yet - Tehran seemed to dig in its heels, refusing to provide international inspectors with information and access to determine the real purpose of Tehran's nuclear program.
The Obama administration has argued that the sanctions are having an effect, reducing Iran's access to foreign capital, halting investment in its energy sector and restricting its shipping at some foreign ports.
But, in September, the IAEA indicated in a report that the international sanctions have failed so far to force Iran to comply with longstanding requests. The agency complained that Iran had barred two of its most experienced inspectors from the country.
The IAEA report reiterated that, since August 2008, Iran has refused to answer questions "about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed nuclear-related activities involving military-related organizations, including activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile." The report said it was "essential that Iran engage with the agency on these issues" because evidence can degrade with "the passage of time."
The Bushehr reactor, costing around $1 billion, has a long and tangled history. Construction began in 1975 under a contract signed with Germany, the state-run Press TV reported on Tuesday, but Germany withdrew from the project after the Islamic revolution in 1979. An agreement with Russia in 1995 should have been completed in 1999 but the plan fell prey to long delays.