The map shows the worldwide distribution of nuclear power plants. Thirty-five years after Iran, under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, had begun constructing the light-water reactor in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr with the help of the German Kraftwerk Union AG, a joint venture of Siemens and AEG Telefunken, fuel rods have been inserted today in the reactor, which had been finished by Russia.

It’s a great day for the Iranians. The West should consider Bushehr’s nuclear power plant as a confidence-building measure that Iran doesn’t seek nuclear weapons but wants to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Last update August 21, 2010.