The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom warned Tuesday that the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran faces threats due to ongoing U.S.-Israeli attacks across the country.
“The station is certainly under threat, as explosions are already being heard kilometers from the station’s defense line, its physical defense line,” Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachyov told Russian media.
Missile attacks, Likhachyov said, are “not aimed at the station itself, but at military facilities, apparently located there. But the threat is clearly growing as the conflict escalates.”
He warned that a strike on the facility could spread radioactive contaminants in the surrounding area.
Likhachyov also said that construction of two new units at Bushehr, Iran’s only operational nuclear plant, was suspended due to ongoing airstrikes, but added that Russian specialists would remain at the site and continue working.
Rosatom helped Iran build Bushehr, which was connected to the national grid in 2011 with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts. Moscow and Tehran agreed to build two additional reactors at Bushehr, with construction starting in 2017.
Rosatom said it has evacuated 94 “non-essential staff” and anyone who wished to leave Iran. It plans to evacuate around 200 more employees when safety conditions improve.
On Saturday, Iranian state media reported that the city where the Bushehr nuclear plant is located came under U.S.-Israeli missile attacks.
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Monday that there was “no indication” any nuclear installations, including Bushehr, have been damaged or targeted in airstrikes.
