As talks are going on over Iran's controversial nuclear program, the Islamic republic plans to begin developing project of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in southern the country in April, an Iranian atomic official said Saturday.

Asghar Zare'an, deputy director for Protection and Security at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said the developing stage of the plant would begin on April 9, the National Nuclear Technology Day, according to Press TV.

Earlier, the AEOI announced that it was in negotiations with the Russian side over the construction of the second phase of Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Iran's first nuclear power plant, the Bushehr plant, was first constructed in 1975 by several German companies. However, the work was halted when the United States imposed an embargo on hi-tech supplies to Iran after the 1979 revolution. Russia signed a contract with Iran to complete the construction in 1998.