Strike on Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Plant Could Cause Chernobyl-Level Disaster, Russia Warns

A satellite image shows new reactors under construction at Bushehr in Iran in this image dated January 1, 2025. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS

Tehran, June 20 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) – A strike on Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant could result in a catastrophe comparable to the Chernobyl disaster, the head of Russia’s state nuclear energy corporation warned on Thursday, amid conflicting statements over whether the facility was targeted in recent Israeli air raids.

Bushehr, Iran’s only operational nuclear plant, was constructed by Russia and runs on Russian-supplied fuel, which is returned to Moscow after use to minimize proliferation risks. The plant is located on the southern coast of Iran, near the Gulf.

The head of Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, said the situation was “fraught with risk,” citing the potentially devastating consequences of any strike on the facility’s first operational power unit.

“If there is a strike on the operational first power unit, it will be a catastrophe comparable to Chernobyl,” Likhachev was quoted as saying by Russia’s state-owned RIA news agency. He was referring to the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl reactor in Soviet Ukraine, considered the worst nuclear disaster in history. United Nations agencies have estimated that around 4,000 people died as a result of radiation exposure from the event.

An Israeli military spokesperson initially said that Israeli forces had struck the Bushehr site. However, the statement was later retracted, with a spokesperson clarifying that it was a mistake and adding that he could neither confirm nor deny whether the site had been hit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said early Thursday that Israel had given assurances that Russian personnel working at the site would not be harmed. Moscow has evacuated some of its specialists from Bushehr, Likhachev said, although he confirmed that the core workforce—described by Putin as numbering in the hundreds—remains at the location.

Likhachev added that an attack on the facility would be “beyond... evil,” underscoring the heightened concern in Moscow over the ongoing hostilities between Israel and Iran.

The warning comes amid escalating tensions in the region, with several countries expressing alarm over the risks of a broader conflict impacting critical infrastructure and civilian safety.