Iran’s first Russian-built atomic power plant in Bushehr has begun operations, ahead of a new round of talks with the West over the country’s disputed nuclear programme.

"Without any propaganda and fuss we sealed the cover of the reactor and all the fuel rods are in the core of the reactor," atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted as saying by Fars news agency, without specifying when.

But Salehi said the authorities in the Islamic republic "hope that electricity produced at the Bushehr plant will be connected to the national grid in a month or two."

Iran says it needs the plant, which had been under construction since the 1970s in the southern port city of Bushehr before it was completed by Russia, to meet growing demand for electricity.

Western governments have aggressively opposed Iran's nuclear programme arguing it masks a drive for an atomic weapons capability, an ambition Tehran has steadfastly denied.

Salehi's announcement comes ahead of the likely resumption of stalled negotiations between the P-5 + 1 and Iran on Tehran's controversial nuclear programme in Geneva on 5 December.

The P5-plus-1 refers to the five permanent U.N. Security Council members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany.