Staff have not observed attacks near the facility amid reported violations of the US-Iran ceasefire, Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev has said<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s only operating nuclear power plant in Bushehr continues to function normally despite reports of renewed US-Iran military exchanges, Aleksey Likhachev, CEO of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, has said.
\nRussian personnel have not observed any attacks near the plant in recent days, and the situation there remains \u201cgenerally calm,\u201d Likhachev said in an interview with the Strana Rosatom corporate newspaper published on Friday. Unit 1, currently the plant\u2019s only operational reactor, continues to run at full capacity, he added.
\nThe Russian-built plant, a critical piece of Iran\u2019s energy infrastructure, contains substantial nuclear fuel stockpiles. Likhachev previously warned that any strike on the site could trigger a catastrophe of at least \u201cregional\u201d proportions.<\/p>\n
FILE PHOTO: a view of the Bushehr nuclear power plant from the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Getty Images \/ Morteza Nikoubazl\/NurPhoto <\/p>\n
Earlier this week, the US military launched a wave of strikes on Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran accused Washington of violating a ceasefire agreed last month and retaliated against American warships in the area. The Bushehr plant is located roughly 250 km (155 miles) northwest of the strategic waterway.
\nFollowing the start of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran in late February, Rosatom reduced its on-site presence from roughly 700 specialists to just 20 people after strikes and explosions were reported near the plant in March and April. In one incident, a projectile struck near the site\u2019s perimeter, killing a security guard.
\nThe Rosatom chief said the company is prepared to rapidly redeploy its full workforce to Iran once it is convinced there is no renewed risk of military escalation threatening personnel safety.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Russia keeping Iran uranium offer on table \u2013 Rosatom CEO<\/p>\n
Bushehr Unit 1 entered commercial operation in 2013. Units 2 and 3, two additional Russian-designed reactors intended to expand the plant\u2019s electricity-generating capacity, have been under construction since 2016.
\nLikhachev said work at the site is gradually resuming, with around 2,200 Iranian contractors returning to focus mainly on reinforcement and concrete work at the under-construction Unit 2 reactor.
\nThe Bushehr nuclear power plant produces electricity for Iran\u2019s national power grid. The project was started in the mid-1970s by a West German company but was suspended in the wake of the Islamic Revolution in 1980, to be revived by Rosatom in the 1990s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Staff have not observed attacks near the facility amid reported violations of the US-Iran ceasefire, Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev has said Iran\u2019s only operating nuclear power plant in Bushehr continues…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t