TEHRAN (Tasnim) � Completion of two new units at Iran�s Bushehr nuclear power plant will help the country save 22 million barrels of crude oil every year, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said.

Addressing a ceremony in the Iranian southern port city of Bushehr on Saturday, held to mark the beginning of construction of the second unit of Bushehr nuclear power plant in cooperation with Russia, Salehi said the new unit, together with a third one, will prevent the emission of 14 million tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) each year.

According to the AEOI chief, the new units are planned to include water desalination facilities with the capacity to produce 200 million cubic meters of fresh water per annum.

The second unit is expected to take 9 years to complete, while the third unit will begin to be built 18 months after that.

A total of $10 billion has been allocated for the construction of the two units.

Once the whole three units come on stream together, 5 to 6 percent of Iran�s electricity will be generated by nuclear power plants.

The second and third units have been designed with stricter security standards, their life span has been increased from 40 to 60 years, and their efficiencies have been improved to above 90 percent.

In late August, Russia's Rosatom released a report, suggesting that the physical start-up of the second power unit of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant is scheduled for October 2024, while the launch of the third unit is planned for April 2026.

The Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant started operating in Iran in 2011 and reached full capacity the following year. In April 2016, the unit was finally handed over to Iran, officially completing its construction stage.

In November 2014, Tehran and Moscow struck an agreement to expand civilian nuclear energy cooperation and construct a total of eight additional nuclear reactors in Iran.

By Tasnim News Agency