MOSCOW, July 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Moscow and Teheran are expected to sign a protocol on returning spent nuclear fuel from the Bushehr plant in Iran to Russia, Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said Wednesday.

　　"The document could be signed by the end of July," Rumyantsev was quoted by Itar-Tass news agency as saying. He added that Russia would offer nuclear fuel to Iran once the protocol was finalized.

　　He noted that the fuel is being stored at a chemical factory inNovosibirsk. The first 11 deliveries of 500 kilograms each would be shipped to Iran in a cargo jet after the signing of the protocol.

　　The minister said the first shipments would likely be loaded into the reactor in the middle of next year.

　　The document had passed the state ecological examination conducted by Russian Natural Resource Ministry, clearing the finalbarrier for signatures to the protocol, according to Rumyantsev.

　　Russia and Iran signed a contract in 1995 to jointly build a nuclear power plant in Bushehr. Under the contract, which was revised several times, construction on the first unit of the station should be completed by 2005.

　　Russia has pledged to continue cooperating with Iran on peaceful nuclear projects, but it has also urged Iran to sign a protocol allowing more inspections of its nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

　　Both Moscow and Tehran have rejected Washington's allegation that Iran may use the plant for developing nuclear weapons. Enditem