Rosatom: Bushehr strike could trigger regional radiation crisis

The head of Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, has warned that a potential accident at Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant could trigger a large-scale radiation impact across the Middle East.

According to Interfax, Likhachev stated on Thursday, March 19, that any serious incident at the facility would have at least regional consequences. “If an incident occurs, it will, at a minimum, be of regional scale and affect a large number of countries in the Middle East (…) None of the parties to the conflict would avoid exposure to radiation if a serious accident occurs,” he said.

He urged political leaders and lawmakers involved in the ongoing conflict to prevent any direct strikes on the operational reactor unit at the plant. “Leaders of countries and lawmakers must play their role in this. Everything must be done to prevent even the risk, even the hint of possible direct strikes on the territory of the operating unit,” Likhachev emphasised.

He added that the military leadership of the United States and Israel is fully aware of the precise locations of the facility’s operational and under-construction units, as well as nearby civilian infrastructure. “They have very precise information and understand where the operating unit is, where the unit under construction is, and where people live,” he noted.

The warning follows the reported shelling of the Bushehr plant area on March 17. In response, Rosatom began preparations on the night of March 18 for a third phase of personnel evacuation. As of now, 480 company employees remain on site.

The plant’s first power unit, with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts, was handed over to Iran in 2013. Construction of a second phase — comprising Units II and III with a combined capacity of 2.1 gigawatts — began in 2016.

By Tamilla Hasanova