Iran Opens First Nuclear Plant

Iran’s officially going nuclear: Today's start-up of a 1,000-megawatt reactor in Bushehr, located in southern Iran, has made the country the first in the Middle East with a nuclear-energy facility. The United States has been weary of the plans, fearing that the plant will be used to make weapons, but Russian officials, who are aiding Iran in the project, dismiss these concerns. “Not a single professional in the world has any questions about the chance that the Bushehr nuclear power plant could be used for nonpeaceful purposes,” said the head of Russia's state nuclear power plant. The plant will account for about 4 percent of Iran’s electricity and will put Iran at least a decade ahead of its more prosperous neighbors.