Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation head says 639 of its employees remain in Iran
Alexey Likhachev warns against targeting Bushehr nuclear power plant, as it may cause regional catastrophe
MOSCOW
The head of the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom said on Tuesday that 639 Russian employees remain at Iran’s sole nuclear power plant.
Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Alexey Likhachev confirmed that work at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant has been halted. Of the 639 people, he said, “There are no longer any children; we managed to evacuate them. Not many women remain, but many women do not want to leave; they want to be with their husbands during these difficult times.”
"As soon as the military situation allows, as soon as there is a pause between strikes, we will evacuate approximately 150-200 people," he said.
Likhachev said Russian President Vladimir Putin has been told that "political support will be needed" when the evacuation of Russian personnel from the plant begins.
Saying contact had been lost with the people there, he added that their physical condition is unknown.
Rosatom knows "for certain" that US-Israeli strikes reached Iranian uranium enrichment facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Tehran, but not of the extent of the destruction, he stressed.
Likhachev warned that a strike on the facility would cause a catastrophe on a regional scale.
On Bushehr, he said it contains large quantities of nuclear fuel, adding: "The reactor is operational. It contains 72 tons of fuel, and another 210 tons of fuel is spent. This is a huge mass of fissile materials. In the event of a strike, of course, this would be a catastrophe on a regional scale.”
He said Rosatom’s leadership had asked Putin in his contacts with top officials of Israel, the US, Arab countries, and the Persian Gulf, “to once again emphasize the inadmissibility of risk — I'm not even talking about direct strikes on a nuclear facility."
Tension escalated across the region on Saturday when the US and Israel launched large-scale attacks on Iran that have so far killed nearly 800 people, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Tehran has responded with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel as well as Gulf countries, which are home to US assets.
