Russia says it will undertake a key step next week towards starting up a reactor at Iran's first nuclear power station. Russia's state atomic corporation, which is building the plant, said engineers will begin loading the Bushehr reactor with fuel. The spokesman, Mr. Sergei Novikov said the fuel will be charged in the reactor on 21 August and from that moment, the reactor will be considered a nuclear installation. However, it is not known when the reactor will be fully operational. Russia has been helping Iran build the plant since the mid-1990s, amid tensions over the country's nuclear programme.