Moscow has lost communication with the leadership of Iran’s nuclear sector as US and Israeli attacks intensify, according to Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom. Director General Alexey Likhachev confirmed that operations at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in southern Iran have been suspended due to nearby airstrikes, though approximately 639 Russian personnel remain at the site. Rosatom, a central contractor at Bushehr, is currently constructing the plant’s second and third power units.
While Russian staff continue to liaise with Iranian officials on-site, the company no longer has contact with the broader Iranian nuclear leadership, leaving the status of other nuclear facilities uncertain. Likhachev emphasized that the plant is under a growing threat, noting explosions have been heard kilometers from its perimeter. Although these strikes target nearby military installations rather than the plant itself, the risk to the facility is rising steadily.
Rosatom maintains that the situation at Bushehr remains “under control,” but precautionary evacuations have been underway. Nearly 100 personnel, including nonessential staff and children, were removed last Saturday, with plans to evacuate an additional 150-200 workers “when the situation allows.” Likhachev warned that the plant houses a large stockpile of fissile materials—70 tons of nuclear fuel and over 210 tons of depleted fuel—any damage to which could trigger a catastrophic incident of at least regional scale.
Russia has been a key player in Iran’s civilian nuclear program, particularly at Bushehr, a plant originally begun in the 1970s by a West German firm but halted after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The project was revived under Rosatom in the 1990s, culminating in the launch of the first power unit in the early 2010s. The current crisis underscores the vulnerability of nuclear facilities in conflict zones and raises urgent concerns about potential regional fallout from the ongoing attacks.
