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IAEA Issues Urgent Warning After Strikes Near Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Plant

The warning underscores the risk that fighting near a civilian reactor could unleash radiation that spreads across borders.

Overview

  • IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said strikes near Bushehr pose “a very real danger” to nuclear safety and called for them to stop.
  • The agency confirmed four strike or targeting incidents near the plant, with satellite images showing an impact about 75 meters from the site perimeter.
  • Site reports relayed to the IAEA say a security worker was killed by shrapnel and a building was damaged by shockwaves, while radiation levels have not increased so far.
  • Experts warn a direct hit on the reactor core or spent-fuel pools could release long-lived isotopes such as cesium-137 and carry contamination across the Persian Gulf for decades.
  • Rosatom evacuated 198 Russian staff from the site as risks rose, and Iran appealed to the UN as the WHO chief warned a strike could trigger a nuclear accident and advocacy groups said hitting a civilian reactor would be a war crime.