MOSCOW, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The first reactor of Iran's long-delayed Bushehr nuclear power plant will be launched this summer, said Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

"The first power generating unit will be launched as early as this summer," said Putin at a meeting on nuclear industry in southern Russian city of Volgodonsk.

Earlier this month, the Iranian nuclear agency chief said the Bushehr nuclear power plant would be ready within a few months.

Iran handed over the Bushehr project, started by German firm Siemens in the 1970s, to Russia in 1995. The launch of Bushehr has been postponed frequently in recent years.

The West has been accusing Iran of secretly building nuclear weapons under the disguise of a civilian program. Tehran denies the charge, saying the program is for peaceful nuclear energy.