A Shell Hit the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran - IAEA

The IAEA and Rosatom reported that a shell fell on the territory of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran. Preliminary information indicates that this did not lead to a radiation leak. Rosatom will continue the evacuation of its employees to Russia.

Iran notified the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that a shell fell on the territory of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, located near the city of the same name in the southwest of the country, on the evening of March 17. This was reported on Wednesday, March 18, by the IAEA, as well as by the Iranian agency Tasnim, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to Tasnim, there were no casualties, writes DW.

Earlier, the Russian state corporation Rosatom, whose employees are involved in the construction of new units at the plant, reported that a shell of an unspecified type hit the Bushehr nuclear power plant. "At 18:11 Moscow time, a strike was made on the territory adjacent to the building of the metrological service, located on the industrial site of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, in close proximity to the operating power unit," said Rosatom's statement.

The IAEA emphasized that the shelling did not lead to a radiation leak or other damage to the nuclear power plant. The agency's Director General Rafael Grossi once again urged the parties to the conflict (Iran, the USA, and Israel) to exercise maximum restraint to prevent a nuclear accident.

The head of Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, called the incident "a flagrant disregard for key rules and principles of international security." According to him, about 480 Russian employees remain at the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Since the beginning of the war between the USA and Israel against Iran, the state corporation has already conducted two evacuations of personnel and is currently preparing a third, Likhachev added.

Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant - A Key Facility of Iran's Nuclear Energy

The Bushehr nuclear power plant is the first nuclear power plant built in Iran. The country's authorities began its construction with the support of the German company Siemens back in 1975.

After the Islamic Revolution, the work was frozen and resumed only in 1995 with the participation of Rosatom. The first power unit was commissioned in 2013, and a few years later, the construction of the second power unit began.

In recent years, the plant has regularly experienced technical problems, leading to power outages in several regions of Iran.