Latest news with #Bushehr
South China Morning Post
4 hours ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
What are the nuclear contamination risks from Israel's attacks on Iran?
Israel says it is determined to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities in its military campaign, but that it also wants to avoid any nuclear disaster in a region that is home to tens of millions of people and produces much of the world's oil. Fears of catastrophe rippled through the Gulf on Thursday when the Israeli military said it had struck a site in Bushehr on the Gulf coast – home to Iran's only nuclear power station – only to later say the announcement was a mistake. Below are details on the damage caused so far by Israel's attacks, and what experts are saying about the risks of contamination and other disasters. What has Israel hit so far? Israel has announced attacks on nuclear sites in Natanz, Isfahan, Arak and Tehran itself. Israel says it aims to stop Iran building an atom bomb. Iran denies ever seeking one. The international nuclear watchdog IAEA has reported damage to the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, to the nuclear complex at Isfahan, including the Uranium Conversion Facility, and to centrifuge production facilities in Karaj and Tehran. A satellite image shows the damaged Arak heavy water reactor facilities in Iran on Thursday. Image: Maxar Technologies via Reuters Israel said on Wednesday it had targeted Arak, also known as Khondab, the location of a partially built heavy-water research reactor, a type that can easily produce plutonium which, like enriched uranium, can be used to make the core of an atom bomb.
Irish Times
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Could Israel's attacks on Iran create a nuclear contamination risk?
Israel says it is determined to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities in its week-old military campaign , but that it also wants to avoid any nuclear disaster in a region that is home to tens of millions of people. Fears of catastrophe rippled through the Gulf on Thursday when the Israeli military said it had struck a site in Bushehr on the Gulf coast – home to Iran's only nuclear power station – only to later say the announcement was a mistake. Below we examine the damage caused so far by Israel's attacks, and ask experts about the risks of contamination and other disasters. What sites has Israel hit so far? Israel has announced attacks on nuclear sites in Natanz, Isfahan, Arak and Tehran itself. Israel says it aims to stop Iran building an atom bomb. Iran denies ever seeking to do this. READ MORE Iran's Arak nuclear plant. Photograph: Hamid Foroutan/AFP/Getty Images The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a nuclear watchdog, has reported damage to the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, to the nuclear complex at Isfahan, including the Uranium Conversion Facility, and to centrifuge production facilities in Karaj and Tehran. Israel said on Wednesday it had targeted Arak, also known as Khondab, the location of a partially built heavy-water research reactor, a type that can easily produce plutonium which, like enriched uranium, can be used to make the core of an atom bomb. The IAEA said it had information that the Khondab heavy-water research reactor had been hit, but that it was not operational and reported no radiological effects. What fallout risks do these strikes pose? Peter Bryant, a professor at the University of Liverpool, who specialises in radiation protection science and nuclear energy policy, said he is not too concerned about fallout risks from the strikes so far. The Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, where multiple buildings were destroyed by recent Israeli airstrikes. Photograph: Maxar Technologies/AP He noted that the Arak site was not operational while the Natanz facility was underground and no release of radiation was reported. 'The issue is controlling what has happened inside that facility, but nuclear facilities are designed for that,' he said. 'Uranium is only dangerous if it gets physically inhaled or ingested or gets into the body at low enrichments.' Darya Dolzikova, a senior research fellow at London think tank RUSI, said attacks on facilities at the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle – the stages where uranium is prepared for use in a reactor – pose primarily chemical, not radiological risks. At enrichment facilities, UF6, or uranium hexafluoride, is the concern. 'When UF6 interacts with water vapour in the air, it produces harmful chemicals,' she said. The extent to which any material is dispersed would depend on factors including weather conditions, she added. 'In low winds, much of the material can be expected to settle in the vicinity of the facility; in high winds, the material will travel farther, but is also likely to disperse more widely.' The risk of dispersal is lower for underground facilities. What about nuclear reactors? The major concern would be a strike on Iran's nuclear reactor at Bushehr. Richard Wakeford, honorary professor of epidemiology at the University of Manchester, said that while contamination from attacks on enrichment facilities would be 'mainly a chemical problem' for the surrounding areas, extensive damage to large power reactors 'is a different story'. Radioactive elements would be released either through a plume of volatile materials or into the sea, he said. James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said an attack on Bushehr 'could cause an absolute radiological catastrophe', but that attacks on enrichment facilities were 'unlikely to cause significant off-site consequences'. A copy of the Tehran Times newspaper showing people killed in recent Israeli strikes. Photograph: Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times He said before uranium goes into a nuclear reactor it is barely radioactive. 'The chemical form uranium hexafluoride is toxic ... but it actually doesn't tend to travel large distances and it's barely radioactive. So far the radiological consequences of Israel's attacks have been virtually nil,' he added, while stating his opposition to Israel's campaign. Why are Gulf states especially worried? For Gulf states, the impact of any strike on Bushehr would be worsened by the potential contamination of Gulf waters, jeopardising a critical source of desalinated potable water. In the UAE, desalinated water accounts for more than 80 per cent of drinking water, while Bahrain became fully reliant on desalinated water in 2016, with 100 per cent of groundwater reserved for contingency plans, according to authorities. Qatar is 100 per cent dependent on desalinated water. [ Israel's ambition: Destroy the heart of Iran's nuclear programme Opens in new window ] In Saudi Arabia , a much larger nation with a greater reserve of natural groundwater, about 50 per cent of the water supply came from desalinated water as of 2023, according to the General Authority for Statistics. While Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE have access to more than one sea to draw water from, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait are crowded along the shoreline of the Gulf with no other coastline. 'If a natural disaster, oil spill, or even a targeted attack were to disrupt a desalination plant, hundreds of thousands could lose access to freshwater almost instantly,' said Nidal Hilal, professor of engineering and director of New York University Abu Dhabi's Water Research Centre. 'Coastal desalination plants are especially vulnerable to regional hazards like oil spills and potential nuclear contamination.' – Reuters
Khaleej Times
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
What are the nuclear contamination risks from Israel's attacks on Iran?
E[Editor's Note: Follow the KT live blog for live updates on the Israel-Iran conflict. ] Israel says it is determined to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities in its military campaign, but that it also wants to avoid any nuclear disaster in a region that is home to tens of millions of people and produces much of the world's oil. Fears of catastrophe rippled through the Gulf on Thursday when the Israeli military said it had struck a site in Bushehr on the Gulf coast — home to Iran's only nuclear power station — only to later say the announcement was a mistake. Below are details on the damage caused so far by Israel's attacks, and what experts are saying about the risks of contamination and other disasters. What has Israel hit so far? Israel has announced attacks on nuclear sites in Natanz, Isfahan, Arak and Tehran itself. Israel says it aims to stop Iran building an atom bomb. Iran denies ever seeking one. The international nuclear watchdog IAEA has reported damage to the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, to the nuclear complex at Isfahan, including the Uranium Conversion Facility, and to centrifuge production facilities in Karaj and Tehran. Israel said on Wednesday it had targeted Arak, also known as Khondab, the location of a partially built heavy-water research reactor, a type that can easily produce plutonium which, like enriched uranium, can be used to make the core of an atom bomb. The IAEA said it had information that the Khondab heavy water research reactor had been hit, but that it was not operational and reported no radiological effects. What fallout risks do these strikes pose? Peter Bryant, a professor at the University of Liverpool in England who specialises in radiation protection science and nuclear energy policy, said he is not too concerned about fallout risks from the strikes so far. He noted that the Arak site was not operational while the Natanz facility was underground and no release of radiation was reported. "The issue is controlling what has happened inside that facility, but nuclear facilities are designed for that," he said. "Uranium is only dangerous if it gets physically inhaled or ingested or gets into the body at low enrichments," he said. Darya Dolzikova, a senior research fellow at London think tank RUSI, said attacks on facilities at the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle - the stages where uranium is prepared for use in a reactor - pose primarily chemical, not radiological risks. At enrichment facilities, UF6, or uranium hexafluoride, is the concern. "When UF6 interacts with water vapour in the air, it produces harmful chemicals," she said. The extent to which any material is dispersed would depend on factors including weather conditions, she added. "In low winds, much of the material can be expected to settle in the vicinity of the facility; in high winds, the material will travel farther, but is also likely to disperse more widely." The risk of dispersal is lower for underground facilities. What about nuclear reactors? The major concern would be a strike on Iran's nuclear reactor at Bushehr. Richard Wakeford, Honorary Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Manchester, said that while contamination from attacks on enrichment facilities would be "mainly a chemical problem" for the surrounding areas, extensive damage to large power reactors "is a different story". Radioactive elements would be released either through a plume of volatile materials or into the sea, he added. James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said an attack on Bushehr "could cause an absolute radiological catastrophe", but that attacks on enrichment facilities were "unlikely to cause significant off-site consequences". Before uranium goes into a nuclear reactor it is barely radioactive, he said. "The chemical form uranium hexafluoride is toxic ... but it actually doesn't tend to travel large distances and it's barely radioactive. So far the radiological consequences of Israel's attacks have been virtually nil," he added, while stating his opposition to Israel's campaign. Why are Gulf states especially worried? For Gulf states, the impact of any strike on Bushehr would be worsened by the potential contamination of Gulf waters, jeopardising a critical source of desalinated potable water. In the UAE, desalinated water accounts for more than 80% of drinking water, while Bahrain became fully reliant on desalinated water in 2016, with 100% of groundwater reserved for contingency plans, according to authorities. Qatar is 100% dependent on desalinated water. In Saudi Arabia, a much larger nation with a greater reserve of natural groundwater, about 50% of the water supply came from desalinated water as of 2023, according to the General Authority for Statistics. While some Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE have access to more than one sea to draw water from, countries like Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait are crowded along the shoreline of the Gulf with no other coastline. "If a natural disaster, oil spill, or even a targeted attack were to disrupt a desalination plant, hundreds of thousands could lose access to freshwater almost instantly," said Nidal Hilal, Professor of Engineering and Director of New York University Abu Dhabi's Water Research Center. "Coastal desalination plants are especially vulnerable to regional hazards like oil spills and potential nuclear contamination," he said.
Reuters
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Reuters
What are the nuclear contamination risks from Israel's attacks on Iran?
June 19 (Reuters) - Israel says it is determined to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities in its military campaign, but that it also wants to avoid any nuclear disaster in a region that is home to tens of millions of people and produces much of the world's oil. Fears of catastrophe rippled through the Gulf on Thursday when the Israeli military said it had struck a site in Bushehr on the Gulf coast - home to Iran's only nuclear power station - only to later say the announcement was a mistake. Below are details on the damage caused so far by Israel's attacks, and what experts are saying about the risks of contamination and other disasters. Israel has announced attacks on nuclear sites in Natanz, Isfahan, Arak and Tehran itself. Israel says it aims to stop Iran building an atom bomb. Iran denies ever seeking one. The international nuclear watchdog IAEA has reported damage to the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, to the nuclear complex at Isfahan, including the Uranium Conversion Facility, and to centrifuge production facilities in Karaj and Tehran. Israel said on Wednesday it had targeted Arak, also known as Khondab, the location of a partially built heavy-water research reactor, a type that can easily produce plutonium which, like enriched uranium, can be used to make the core of an atom bomb. The IAEA said it had information that the Khondab heavy water research reactor had been hit, but that it was not operational and reported no radiological effects. Peter Bryant, a professor at the University of Liverpool in England who specialises in radiation protection science and nuclear energy policy, said he is not too concerned about fallout risks from the strikes so far. He noted that the Arak site was not operational while the Natanz facility was underground and no release of radiation was reported. "The issue is controlling what has happened inside that facility, but nuclear facilities are designed for that," he said. "Uranium is only dangerous if it gets physically inhaled or ingested or gets into the body at low enrichments," he said. Darya Dolzikova, a senior research fellow at London think tank RUSI, said attacks on facilities at the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle - the stages where uranium is prepared for use in a reactor - pose primarily chemical, not radiological risks. At enrichment facilities, UF6, or uranium hexafluoride, is the concern. "When UF6 interacts with water vapour in the air, it produces harmful chemicals," she said. The extent to which any material is dispersed would depend on factors including weather conditions, she added. "In low winds, much of the material can be expected to settle in the vicinity of the facility; in high winds, the material will travel farther, but is also likely to disperse more widely." The risk of dispersal is lower for underground facilities. The major concern would be a strike on Iran's nuclear reactor at Bushehr. Richard Wakeford, Honorary Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Manchester, said that while contamination from attacks on enrichment facilities would be "mainly a chemical problem" for the surrounding areas, extensive damage to large power reactors "is a different story". Radioactive elements would be released either through a plume of volatile materials or into the sea, he added. James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said an attack on Bushehr "could cause an absolute radiological catastrophe", but that attacks on enrichment facilities were "unlikely to cause significant off-site consequences". Before uranium goes into a nuclear reactor it is barely radioactive, he said. "The chemical form uranium hexafluoride is toxic ... but it actually doesn't tend to travel large distances and it's barely radioactive. So far the radiological consequences of Israel's attacks have been virtually nil," he added, while stating his opposition to Israel's campaign. For Gulf states, the impact of any strike on Bushehr would be worsened by the potential contamination of Gulf waters, jeopardizing a critical source of desalinated potable water. In the UAE, desalinated water accounts for more than 80% of drinking water, while Bahrain became fully reliant on desalinated water in 2016, with 100% of groundwater reserved for contingency plans, according to authorities. Qatar is 100% dependent on desalinated water. In Saudi Arabia, a much larger nation with a greater reserve of natural groundwater, about 50% of the water supply came from desalinated water as of 2023, according to the General Authority for Statistics. While some Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates have access to more than one sea to draw water from, countries like Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait are crowded along the shoreline of the Gulf with no other coastline. "If a natural disaster, oil spill, or even a targeted attack were to disrupt a desalination plant, hundreds of thousands could lose access to freshwater almost instantly," said Nidal Hilal, Professor of Engineering and Director of New York University Abu Dhabi's Water Research Center. "Coastal desalination plants are especially vulnerable to regional hazards like oil spills and potential nuclear contamination," he said.
Al Arabiya
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Strike on Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant could cause ‘Chernobyl-style catastrophe': Russia
The head of Russia's nuclear energy corporation warned on Thursday that an Israeli attack on Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant could lead to a 'Chernobyl-style catastrophe.' An Israeli military spokesperson said Israel had struck the site, but an Israeli military official later called this statement 'a mistake' and said he could neither confirm nor deny that the Bushehr site on the cost of the Gulf had been hit. Bushehr is Iran's only operating nuclear power plant and was built by Russia. President Vladimir Putin told journalists in the early hours of Thursday that Israel had promised Russia that Moscow's workers - who are building more nuclear facilities at the Bushehr site - would be safe, even as Israel tries to degrade Iran's nuclear capabilities by force. The head of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom warned on Thursday that the situation around the plant was fraught with risk. 'If there is a strike on the operational first power unit, it will be a catastrophe comparable to Chernobyl,' the state RIA news agency cited Alexei Likhachev as saying. Likhachev was referring to the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986, when a reactor exploded at Chernobyl in Soviet Ukraine. An attack on Bushehr would be 'beyond... evil,' Likhachev added. Russia has evacuated some of its specialists from Bushehr, he said, but the core workforce - which Putin said numbered hundreds of people - remained on site. 'We are prepared for any scenario, including the rapid evacuation of all our employees,' RIA cited Likhachev as saying. 'God forbid' Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Israeli attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities were unacceptable and illegal. 'We are especially concerned about the safety of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, in whose operation Russian specialists are involved,' she told reporters. 'We would like to especially warn Washington against military intervention in the situation, which would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences,' Zakharova added, underlining a warning that Moscow first issued on Wednesday. Putin, in his comments early on Thursday, was defensive when asked what more Moscow would do to help Tehran. He said it had not asked for military assistance, that ties were strong, and that the continued presence of Russian workers building more nuclear facilities at Bushehr showed Russia's support for Iran. But Putin also stressed the importance of Russia's ties with Israel - even though he later condemned its behavior in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping - and said he believed a diplomatic solution that would satisfy Israel's concerns about its own security and Iran could be found. Russia signed a strategic partnership with Iran in January and also has a relationship with Israel, although that has been strained by Moscow's war in Ukraine. A Russian offer to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict has so far not been taken up. Mikhail Bogdanov, another Russian deputy foreign minister, recoiled on Thursday when asked by Reuters about the possibility of the US joining Israel's war with Iran. 'God forbid, the consequences would be hard to predict,' he said.
