Direct hit could trigger serious radiological event, warns agency head
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it has been informed by Iran that a projectile hit the premises of the Bushehr nuclear power station on Tuesday evening.
The agency said there was no damage to the facility or injuries to staff reported. IAEA director-general Rafael Grossi reiterated his call for maximum restraint during the conflict to prevent risk of a nuclear accident.
Grossi warned that the strike risked crossing the "reddest line" of nuclear safety, as fighting between the US, Israel and Iran intensifies.
He said a direct hit on an operating nuclear reactor like Bushehr could trigger a severe radiological incident, even as a recent strike caused no apparent damage to the plant’s core systems.
“An accident on an operating nuclear power plant would be something very, very serious,” Grossi said on Wednesday. “This is the reddest line of all that you have in nuclear safety.”
“The possibility of dispersion in the atmosphere of radioactivity is very high if you get to the core of the reactor,” he added.
Bushehr, on the Persian Gulf in western Iran, has a single 915-MW pressurised water reactor unit supplied by Russia in operation. A second unit of 974 MW, also supplied by Russia, is under construction and Russian state nuclear corporation.Rosatom has said work has also begun on a third unit, although it does not appear in the IAEA’s official database of reactors.
Rosatom said in a statement that the “attack” was carried out at 18.11 Moscow time on 17 March next to the facility’s metrology service building “in the immediate vicinity of the active power unit”.
Russian technicians from Rosatom operate the plant, using Russian-made, low-enriched uranium.
“There were no casualties among Rosatom State Corporation personnel,” the Rosatom statement said. “The radiation situation at the site is normal.”
About 480 Russian nationals remain at the plant, Rosatom said, and authorities are preparing for another round of evacuations from there.
The Atomic Energy Organistion of Iran later issued a statement saying “no financial, technical, or human damage occurred and no part of the plant was harmed.” Iran blamed the incident on the US and Israel, Tass later reported.
