Russia will maintain its staff from the Nuclear Power Plant in Bushehr, Iran, despite Israeli attacks
The Kremlin announced on Friday, June 20, that it does not consider the evacuation of Russian personnel working at the Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushehr, in the context of recent Israeli air attacks on Iran's nuclear infrastructure. The clarification was made after a spokesman for the Israeli army suggested that this objective would have been hit, a later affirmation.
The Bushehr power plant is the only operational nuclear power plant in Iran. Photo: AFP
“There are no such plans at this time”, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov. He said that President Vladimir Putin received security guarantees from Israel for Russian specialists in Bushehr, reports EFE, taken over by Agerpres.
The Bushehr power plant is the only operational nuclear power plant in Iran and works with the fuel provided by Russia. About 600 Russian specialists work there, of which 250 permanently. The radioactive residues resulting from the activity are returned to Russia to reduce the risks of proliferation.
Tensions have increased after Israel has launched a series of bombing aimed at both military infrastructure and important nuclear installations in Iran, including Natanz, Isfahan, Fordo and Arak.
The attack on the Natanz uranium enrichment plant caused significant damage, and Aiea confirmed that the underground halls of the installation were hit directly.
In Isfahan, four buildings of the conversion plant were damaged, while the Forto plant, protected by a depth of almost 100 meters below the mountain, suffered only minor or insignificant damages.
The general director of the Russian Nuclear Agency Rosatom, Alexei Lihacev, has launched a firm warning: hitting the Bushehr boiler could cause a catastrophe comparable to the Chernobyl. “I want to call on the Israeli authorities to avoid, not only a direct attack, but even the allusions to this,” the Russian official transmitted.
Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulhman of Thani, expressed concerns about the risks to the golf states in the event of a Bushehr attack. “If something happens there, we remain without water, without fish, without what to live.” warned the leader from Doha.
