Iran’s atomic energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi Friday confirmed next week’s launch of the Islamic republic’s first nuclear power plant, as announced by Russia which has helped build the facility.

“We are preparing to transfer the fuel inside the plant next week… Then we will need seven to eight days to transfer it to the reactor,” said Salehi.

Ending years of delays, a spokesman for the Russian atomic agency said Friday that the plant in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr will formally launch on 21st August.

“The fuel will be charged in the reactor on 21st August. From this moment, Bushehr will be considered a nuclear installation,” Rosatom spokesman Sergei Novikov said. “This can be considered as the physical launch.”