An unusual signal raises concerns about the Iranian nuclear program. On Monday, April 13th, 108 Russian employees were evacuated from the Bouchehr plant in the south of the country, leaving only about twenty technical managers behind. According to Rosatom chief, Alexeï Likhatchev, this is a “final rotation,” with the employees heading towards Ispahan.
The remaining twenty individuals, who are managers and equipment supervisors, make up Rosatom’s “final delegation” at this strategic site. With a reactor generating 1,000 megawatts of power, Bouchehr is Iran’s only operational civilian nuclear plant.
Located on the shores of the Persian Gulf, the plant has a major distinction: it was initially started in the 1970s by German company Siemens, before being taken over and completed by Russia after the Islamic revolution. Today, it operates with the support of Russian engineers.
Risk for the Entire Gulf Region
This evacuation comes amid a period of heightened military tension. Since February 28th, when Israeli-American strikes hit Iran, the Bouchehr plant has been targeted at least four times. On April 4th, a security agent was killed during one of the strikes, but the reactor remained undamaged, according to Iranian state media and satellite imagery analysis from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Not all nuclear sites pose the same level of risk. …
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