Bushehr Nuclear Plant Struck Twice — Russia Evacuates Staff as IAEA Warns of "Nuclear Disaster" Risk

What Happened

Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant — located on the Persian Gulf coast in Bushehr Province — has now been struck twice since the US-Israeli war on Iran began. The first strike occurred on March 17, 2026, when a projectile impacted a structure approximately 350 meters from the reactor, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The second strike hit the plant's premises on March 25, 2026.

Iran's Atomic Energy Organization attributed both attacks to the United States and Israel. After each strike, Iranian authorities reported no structural damage to the reactor and no casualties. The IAEA confirmed both incidents and stated that no radiation increase was detected in Iran or surrounding countries after either strike.

Despite the "no damage" assessment, the incidents triggered a significant response: Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom began evacuating its staff from the site. Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev confirmed that 163 employees departed on March 25, traveling toward the Iranian-Armenian border. As of that date, approximately 300 Russian nationals remained at Bushehr. Likhachev had previously described the situation as "extremely dangerous" and said the company intended to evacuate approximately 150–200 people as soon as military conditions permitted.

The Bushehr Plant: Background

The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is Iran's only operational commercial nuclear reactor. It generates approximately 1,000 megawatts of electricity. Construction was originally started by Germany's Siemens in the 1970s but halted after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Russia's Rosatom completed the project decades later; the plant was formally handed over to Iran in 2013, though Russian technical staff continued to work on-site.

The reactor uses enriched uranium fuel supplied by Russia, and spent fuel is returned to Russia under the bilateral agreement — a safeguard intended to prevent Iran from extracting weapons-usable material from the spent rods. The plant operates under IAEA safeguards.

The reactor is of the VVER-1000 design, a pressurized water reactor. It stores spent nuclear fuel on-site in a cooling pool. The IAEA has long maintained that attacks near nuclear facilities carrying active fuel pose radiological risks even short of a direct reactor hit: a strike on a cooling pool, a spent fuel storage area, or critical cooling systems could cause a radiological release without ever breaching the reactor vessel itself.

What a Radiological Release Would Mean

The IAEA has repeatedly stated that military attacks on nuclear facilities "should never take place," warning they "could result in radioactive releases with grave consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the State" under attack. IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi made this warning explicitly in remarks at a special IAEA Board meeting in Vienna following the first Bushehr strike.

A radiological release from Bushehr would not produce a nuclear explosion — the reactor does not contain weapons-grade material. The risk is contamination: radioactive particles spreading into the environment via air and water, with potential long-term consequences for public health across the Persian Gulf region. The Gulf states of Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the UAE are all within close range of the plant's coastal location.

Melissa Parke, Executive Director of ICAN (the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a Geneva-based global disarmament coalition), described the situation in a public statement: "Any attack near a nuclear facility is playing roulette with civilian lives. Nuclear risks are not theoretical — they are immediate and human." (Source: ICAN, March 2026.)

Separately, the World Health Organization's regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Hanan Balkhy, confirmed in mid-March that the WHO was refreshing staff training on nuclear incident response, including scenarios involving strikes on nuclear facilities. The WHO described this as preparation for a "worst-case scenario," according to reporting by Politico EU and The Independent.

Russia's Position

Russia's response has been sharply critical. After the second strike, Russia's foreign ministry accused the United States and Israel of "deliberately trying to spark a nuclear disaster," according to Al Jazeera. Moscow has called for the establishment of a nuclear safety zone around the Bushehr facility.

The evacuation of Russian staff is notable: Rosatom built the plant, supplies its fuel, and has operated alongside Iranian engineers for years. Pulling personnel is both a safety measure and a political signal. Russia has a stake in preventing nuclear contamination — its staff are on site, and its technical reputation is bound up with Bushehr's continued operation.

Russia is also, according to the Financial Times citing western intelligence reports, close to completing a phased shipment of drones, medicine, and food to Iran. Moscow's posture has been to support Iran diplomatically and materially while warning against escalation that could cause irreversible consequences at the nuclear site.

The Parallel: Iran's Strike Near Dimona

The nuclear risk is not unidirectional. On March 21, 2026, Iran launched ballistic missiles at Israeli targets including the town of Dimona in the Negev — the location of Israel's Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Centre, the core of Israel's undeclared nuclear program. According to ICAN, it was the first time Iranian missiles had penetrated Israeli air defenses in the vicinity of that site. Israeli officials stated no damage occurred and reported no abnormal radiation levels.

Israel has never officially acknowledged its nuclear weapons program. The Dimona facility is not under IAEA safeguards. The combination of strikes near both nations' nuclear infrastructure represents an escalation with no obvious ceiling.

Current Status and International Response

As of March 26, 2026 — Day 27 of the US-Israel-Iran war — the Bushehr plant remains operational, according to Iranian authorities. No radiation releases have been confirmed by the IAEA. IAEA Director General Grossi has issued repeated public calls for restraint, specifically warning that even near-misses carry risk due to the presence of nuclear material, cooling systems, and spent fuel.

Gulf states have condemned Iranian missile strikes on their territory at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The UAE reported that Iranian attacks since late February killed three of its civilians and injured 58 more, according to UAE representative Shahad Matar's statement to the Council. Kuwait, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia have all reported Iranian drone and missile activity. Kuwait's National Guard said it shot down two drones; Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defence said it intercepted 17 drones over the Eastern Province in a single day, then five more shortly after.

None of the international bodies — IAEA, UN, WHO — have the authority to halt strikes. Their role is to monitor, warn, and document. So far the monitoring has returned reassuring results. Whether that continues depends on the precision of the next strike.

Why This Matters

The Iran war has produced an unusual situation: an active nuclear power plant is being struck repeatedly during a conventional military conflict, while its foreign operator evacuates staff and the global nuclear watchdog issues emergency warnings. This has not happened before in the IAEA's history. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster and 2011 Fukushima meltdown both occurred without military attack. The 2022 occupation of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia plant brought troops and fire close to a reactor, but it was not targeted with missiles.

Bushehr is now in a category of its own. Two strikes. No damage confirmed. But a shrinking margin between those two facts.