Towards a Chernobyl in the Middle East?

High-resolution imagery shows the aftermath of the strike on Iran's Arak Heavy Water Reactor
Photo: x/osc London

Russia warns strike on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant could cause ‘Chernobyl-style catastrophe’, Reuters stresses.

The head of Russia’s nuclear energy corporation warned that an Israeli attack on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant could lead to a “Chernobyl-style catastrophe”.

An Israeli military spokesperson said Israel had struck the site, but an Israeli military official later called this statement “a mistake” and said he could neither confirm nor deny that the Bushehr site on the cost of the Gulf had been hit.

Bushehr is Iran’s only operating nuclear power plant and was built by Russia.

President Vladimir Putin told journalists in the early hours of Thursday that Israel had promised Russia that Moscow’s workers – who are building more nuclear facilities at the Bushehr site – would be safe, even as Israel tries to degrade Iran’s nuclear capabilities by force.

The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom warned on Thursday that the situation around the plant was fraught with risk.

“If there is a strike on the operational first power unit, it will be a catastrophe comparable to Chernobyl,” the state RIA news agency cited Alexei Likhachev as saying.

Likhachev was referring to the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986, when a reactor exploded at Chernobyl in Soviet Ukraine.

An attack on Bushehr would be “beyond… evil,” Likhachev added.

Russia has evacuated some of its specialists from Bushehr, he said, but the core workforce – which Putin said numbered hundreds of people – remained on site.

“We are prepared for any scenario, including the rapid evacuation of all our employees,” RIA cited Likhachev as saying.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Israeli attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities were unacceptable and illegal.

“We are especially concerned about the safety of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, in whose operation Russian specialists are involved,” she told reporters.

“We would like to especially warn Washington against military intervention in the situation, which would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences,” Zakharova added, underlining a warning that Moscow first issued on Wednesday.

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