About 700 Russian specialists are taking part in the construction of the second and third units of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, the head of Russian state nuclear firm Rosatom said on Monday.
“Two thousand-ton blocks are being built on the site, the second and the third. Work is progressing,” Rosatom’s Director General Alexey Likhachev told state-owned television channel Russia-1 TV.
Likhachev said construction of the new units was advancing with major structural components being installed.
The work, he added, involves around 3,000 specialists, including about 700 Russian citizens.
In September, Iranian state media reported that Likhachev and Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization chief Mohammad Eslami signed a memorandum on cooperation for small nuclear power plants in Iran.
In early June, Reza Banazadeh, head of the Bushehr facility announced that Iran plans to expand its nuclear power capacity over the next 18 years with the construction of two additional units at the Bushehr nuclear plant.
The second unit, he added, will take 10 years to complete and the third around eight years. Once finished, the three units would generate a combined 3,100 megawatts of electricity, he added.
Banazadeh said at the time that 2,000 Iranian specialists operate the Bushehr plant, which he described as a showcase of domestic capability.
“All critical roles, from control rooms to maintenance, are handled by Iranian experts,” he said.
Amid the Iran-Israel war in June, an Israeli military spokesperson cited by Reuters said on June 19 that Israel had struck the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear plant — an assertion Reuters reported the spokesperson later said had been made “by mistake.”
On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Israel had agreed to ensure the security of more than 200 Russian employees working at the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
A day later, Likhachev said the situation at Bushehr nuclear power plant, where hundreds of Russian specialists work, was under control.
Mehdi Abbasi told the Didban-e Iran news site that “the issue is not who may have done this, but that all assumptions that could lead to harm must be identified.”
Without naming Israel, he said “Experience has shown that with the relevant civil-defence tests, it is possible to thoroughly examine such equipment. And since there is always a possibility that our information could be transmitted abroad, we must consider the most dangerous scenarios and prepare ourselves to confront them.”
He said foreign devices used in urban monitoring systems “must pass multiple security filters” and that Tehran should minimize reliance on imported technology.
Abbasi said authorities should prioritize domestic production of traffic-camera systems, adding, “In a world where countries are either competing or hostile, we must strengthen our internal capabilities first.”
He also said the municipality “should have exercised greater oversight” of the equipment and warned that any technology with internet connectivity must undergo cybersecurity testing by Iran’s civil-defense units.
Iranian officials have not released technical details of the alleged data breach, but the issue has resurfaced repeatedly among senior figures following the 12-day war with Israel.
In September, a senior lawmaker claimed that Israel learned the location of a June 16 meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council through the country’s urban surveillance network.
“All the city cameras at our intersections are in the hands of Israel,” said Mahmoud Nabavian, a member of parliament’s national security committee. “Everything on the internet is in their hands – meaning that if we move, they find out.”
Iranian media reported that the meeting – attended by the heads of the country’s three branches of power – was struck by six bombs or missiles, and that President Masoud Pezeshkian and several other officials suffered minor leg injuries while trying to escape.
