The diligence with which three technicians in white protective clothing sawed off the lid of the first uranium powder barrel and poured its contents into converters on Monday was only matched by the feverish agitation leading up to this moment.

"It is a historic day," said Mohammad Saidi, the vice president of the Iran Atomic Energy Agency. "With the help of God the plant is back online today, just as the people wanted, who pushed the leaders to do this."

Just like its ancient Persian empire, which had its capital in Isfahan, the majority of Iranians consider the country's nuclear programme a source of national pride in the face of intense pressure from the international community.

But the nine months of waiting after a suspension of activities agreed with the West also became a sore point for the mostly young, but highly qualified technicians at the site.

"I am very proud, but I'm also very distressed," said one of the engineers under the cover of anonymity. "Our work was suspended for months and I didn't believe that we would restart them, but that has now happened."

"Our objective is to make enough work for a thousand people here when we reach full capacity," said another official who wished to remain nameless.

After 18 years of concealing its nuclear activities, Iranian authorities were extraordinarily well-prepared to communicate their plans to restart the plant, inviting some press members along for the event.

For a long time they had deferred the crucial moment of the announcement, perhaps keeping in mind the delicate diplomatic developments between Tehran, the European capitals and Vienna, where a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is being prepared.

In their blue outfits, the UN agency's inspectors looked decidedly less feverish while installing the supposed surveillance cameras to monitor the plant.

"Having to stop work made us unhappy," said another Iranian worker who did not want to be named. "Not because we were afraid for our work, we all went to university. But because we are anxious for the country."

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.