'Projectile' hit 350 metres from Bushehr nuclear reactor - IAEA

The statement, posted on social media channel X on Wednesday at 16:31 GMT, added Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi as saying: "Although there was no damage to the reactor itself nor injuries to staff, any attack at or near nuclear power plants violates the seven indispensable pillars related to ensuring nuclear safety and security during an armed conflict and should never take place."

There are no details from the IAEA about what the projectile was that struck the area of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, which is on Iran's Persian Gulf coast, about 480 miles south of Tehran. The plant has one operating unit and two further Russian-designed units under construction.

Director General of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, had earlier said the strike happened at 15:11 GMT on Tuesday, and hit the area near the facility's meteorological service "in close proximity to an operating power unit".

He said: "The safety of human life is our absolute priority. We had previously partially reduced the number of personnel at the construction site of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant Units 2 and 3. About 250 employees and their families were safely evacuated from Iran. Children of employees were preemptively evacuated before the armed conflict began. About 480 of our comrades remain there. Preparations for the third personnel evacuation are under way".

In the statement issued by Rosatom, he added that "we categorically condemn what happened and call on the parties to the conflict to make every possible effort to de-escalate the situation in the Bushehr nuclear power plant area".

Background

The USA and Israel launched attacks on Iran on 28 February, saying they were targeting Iran's leadership and its military infrastructure. Iran has retaliated and the conflict is on-going. IAEA Director General Grossi has urged a return to diplomacy, saying that "to achieve the long-term assurance that Iran will not acquire nuclear weapons and for maintaining the continued effectiveness of the global non-proliferation regime, we must return to diplomacy and negotiations".

The first unit at the Bushehr plant was connected to the grid in 2011. It is a Russian-designed VVER unit with a capacity of 915 MWe. Two further units featuring VVER-1000 units are under construction - unit 2 had first concrete poured in 2019 and the core catcher installed in 2024. In January the third tier of the inner containment building for unit 2 was installed.

At an event at the International Atomic Energy Agency's General Conference in September 2024, Iran suggested unit 2's then target date for operation was 2029. According to Russia's Rosatom, unit 3 is also under construction.

In September 2025, Rosatom and the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the building of small modular reactors in Iran. The country says it has an ambition for 20 GW of nuclear energy capacity by 2041.