Russia said on Thursday that a potential strike on the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran may lead to a "catastrophe comparable" to that witnessed during the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
“If a strike is carried out on the operating first power unit (of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant), it will be a catastrophe comparable to Chernobyl,� Alexey Likhachev, the head of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, according to state news agency RIA.
His remarks refer to the explosion at the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986, situated 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the city of Pripyat in the north of what was then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The incident is considered to be the world's worst nuclear disaster.
Stressing that such a strike would be “beyond the line between good and evil,� Likhachev said that Rosatom is monitoring the situation at the plant, including the safety of Russian specialists stationed there.
He further said there has been no physical destruction of enrichment plants in Iran to date, and that no radiation emissions have been recorded following strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
“As far as we know about the structure of enrichment plants that were hit, including in Natanz, strikes of such power could not have physically damaged the underground workshops,� Likhachev went on to say.
He also said that dozens of Russian specialists stationed at the plant have been evacuated from the country via Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“For now, we consider it possible to leave our workers at Bushehr � We are ready for any scenario, including the rapid evacuation of all our workers," he added.
Regional tension has escalated since Friday after Israel launched coordinated airstrikes on multiple sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.
Israeli authorities said at least 24 people have been killed and hundreds injured in Iranian missile attacks since Friday. Iran, for its part, said that at least 639 people were killed and over 1,300 others wounded in the Israeli assault.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told executives of international media agencies in St. Petersburg early Thursday that there are currently 250 Russian personnel at the plant.
By Burc Eruygur
Anadolu Agency