Iran to build 2nd nuclear power plant

TEHRAN - Iran plans to produce more electricity by building a second nuclear energy plant in the southern province of Bushehr, home for the country's first plant, said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday.

"Based on our estimates, the second nuclear power plant will be built in the same province," Rouhani was quoted by semi-official Fars news agency as saying.

In November, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali-Akbar Salehi said his country would start to build its second nuclear power plant in the near future in cooperation with Russia.

"We hope to start the construction of the country's second nuclear power plant at the beginning of the new Iranian calendar year 1393, starting on March 21, 2014, in cooperation with the Russians," Salehi said.

Iran's first nuclear power plant, the Bushehr plant, was first constructed in 1975 by several German companies. However, the work was halted when the United States imposed an embargo on hi-tech supplies to Iran after the 1979 revolution. Russia signed a contract with Iran to complete the construction in 1998.