MOSCOW

Russia is preparing "several waves of evacuation" for personnel from the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, said Alexey Likhachev, head of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

"We reported that we are preparing several waves of evacuation, with the first ones set to begin as early as this week. We plan to leave a few dozen people literally at the site for supervision, to maintain equipment integrity, and to be ready for proper reloading," Likhachev said at a press briefing in Moscow following his talks with the UN nuclear watchdog head over the phone.

Rosatom has planned to leave only a few dozen people at the site, Likhachev said, adding that he has informed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi about the tense and complex but manageable situation at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran.

"Our task—and we informed them about this and even asked the IAEA to engage on this issue—is to now sound the alarm. It is unacceptable to allow any risk to the operating plant, the plant under construction, or the personnel, regardless of nationality," he said.

Therefore, Rosatom is in constant interaction not only with the station and the leadership of Iran but also with the leadership of the IAEA, Likhachev emphasized.

He also drew attention to the fact that strikes near the nuclear power plant cannot be allowed because "there is too large a volume of fissile materials both in the reactor, in the cooling pools, and in the storage facilities."

"This would, I repeat, be a regional-scale catastrophe from which no one would emerge unscathed," he pointed out. "Regardless of political sympathy or antipathy, regardless of whose side anyone is on. The entire region would suffer severely," he said.

Earlier, Iran's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna, Reza Najafi, reported that on March 17, an attack on Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, where more than 400 Russian specialists work, occurred 200 meters from the operating power unit.