Strike on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant could cause ‘Chernobyl-style catastrophe’, Russia warns

ST PETERSBURG – The head of Russia’s nuclear energy corporation warned on June 19 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 coast 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 June 19 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.

Mr Alexei Likhachev, the head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, warned on June 19 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 Mr Likhachev as saying. (Read More)