Why is Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant being attacked?

[0:00] Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant has been targeted four times since the US-Israeli war began. [0:07] Tehran accuses the UN's nuclear watchdog of inaction, which the IAEA rejects. [0:12] But it says the situation is of deep concern. [0:15] But why are the attacks happening and what risks do they pose? [0:19] This is Inside Story. [0:36] Hello again, I'm James Bays. [0:38] Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant has been attacked four times in the war [0:42] with no explanation or admission by the US or Israel. [0:47] Russia has pulled out hundreds of staff from the facility. [0:50] It jointly operates with Iran. [0:53] There's been no radioactive release, [0:54] but Tehran has accused the international community of an inadequate response to the attacks. [1:00] The International Atomic Energy Agency has expressed deep concern over the strikes. [1:06] As much of the Gulf uses desalination plants to provide drinking water, [1:09] any radioactive leakage into the sea [1:12] could have consequences. [1:13] That's driven warnings, too, from the World Health Organization. [1:18] So why is the Bushehr plant being attacked? [1:21] And what are the risks to Iran and other countries? [1:23] We'll talk to our panel of guests when they join us in just a moment. [1:27] But first, this report from Malakei Bimutepe. [1:32] Since the start of the war, Iranian officials say Israeli and U.S. [1:36] strikes have targeted the city of Bushehr at least four times. [1:39] On Saturday, a strike came just 75 meters from the facility. [1:44] The Bushehr plant is about 750 meters from the facility. [1:45] The plant is about 700 meters from the facility. [1:45] The Bushehr plant is about 750 meters from the facility. [1:45] The Bushehr plant is about 750 kilometers south of the capital Tehran [1:48] and is Iran's only operational active civilian nuclear plant. [1:52] It is equipped with a reactor that contributes up to 2% of Iran's generated power. [1:58] Moscow helped build the plant, which is operated jointly with Russian technicians. [2:03] Last week, its state atomic agency Rosatom [2:06] had warned of the increasing danger the conflict poses to the facility. [2:13] The situation in Bushehr is not calming down. [2:15] We are detecting a lot of damage. [2:16] We are detecting explosions literally just hundreds of meters, [2:19] 700 to 900 meters away from the residential settlement. [2:23] It is clear that the conflict is escalating and, naturally, [2:26] this is a source of grave concern. [2:28] Nuclear specialists have also repeatedly warned that a strike on a nuclear plant [2:33] could lead to a radiation leak and that could pose an existential crisis for Gulf states. [2:39] That's because they rely on desalination plants on the Gulf for their fresh water supplies. [2:45] Iran's foreign minister has bemoaned the issue. [2:47] He said the absence of notable international concerns over the attacks on the Bushehr plant. [2:52] In a post on X, he compared the reaction to what he described as Western outrage [2:57] over Russian attacks on the Zaporizhia nuclear plant in Ukraine. [3:01] And the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has again called for maximum restraint [3:06] to avoid the risk of a nuclear accident. [3:10] While the World Health Organization chief warned that any incident [3:14] that could cause devastating health impacts would affect generations to come, [3:18] in a social media post on Sunday, [3:20] U.S. president vowed to unleash hell on Iran and declared Tuesday, [3:23] Power Plant and Bridge Day, [3:25] a threat widely understood as a promise to attack the country's critical facilities. [3:30] Malek Haibamadzepe, Al Jazeera, for Inside Story. [3:37] It's a complex and concerning subject. [3:40] To make sense of it, we'll join our guests who are here for today's Inside Story from Vienna. [3:46] Tariq Rauf, he's the former head of verification and security policy [3:51] at the International Atomic Energy Agency. [3:52] In Tehran, Abbas Azlani, a senior research fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic [4:00] Studies. [4:01] And from Geneva, Alicia Sander-Zakre, head of policy at ICANN, the international campaign [4:06] to abolish nuclear weapons. [4:08] Thank you, all three of you, for joining us. [4:11] Alicia, let me start with you. [4:12] One of the reasons hawks over the years have given to take on Iran militarily is to stop [4:20] it getting a weapon and causing nuclear accidents. [4:21] Thank you. [4:22] Thank you. [4:23] Thank you. [4:23] Thank you. [4:23] Thank you. [4:24] Thank you. [4:24] Thank you. [4:24] Thank you. [4:24] Thank you. [4:24] This is a question for you. [4:25] What is the most recent risk of nuclear destruction? [4:25] But here we're looking at things the other way around. [4:26] We have a war and there is a risk of nuclear destruction either accidentally or deliberately [4:31] because of that war. [4:33] How big do you think the risk is? [4:37] What we've seen over the course of these most recent strikes by the U.S. and Israel against [4:42] Iran and their first, their original strikes in June, is that military action is simply [4:48] not an effective means to pursue nonproliferation goals. [4:53] Right. [4:53] Right. [4:53] Right. [4:53] Right. [4:53] Right. [4:53] Right. [4:53] Right. [4:53] Right. [4:53] Right. [4:53] Right. [4:53] Right. [4:53] Right. [4:53] Right. [4:54] direct results of these strikes. It's nearly impossible for international inspectors to be [5:00] able to enter Iran and verify the location and the extent of Iran's stockpile of nuclear materials. [5:10] And we're now seeing these very concerning strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran that risk further [5:18] radioactive contamination. So clearly, military strikes are not an effective way forward. [5:24] Instead, really, all parties need to, in some way, get back to the negotiating table [5:30] to reach an agreement towards nuclear nonproliferation in the region. [5:35] Abbas, let me ask you to just give us some details on one of the places, but I think the place we'll [5:42] start our focus with, which is this Boucher nuclear power plant. [5:48] Something that actually dates, or the construction of it, originally dates before the revolution, [5:54] the time of the Shah. Tell us about where it is and a little bit of background on it, if you can. [6:03] A James Boucher nuclear power plant is located in the shores of the Persian Gulf, [6:09] and the United States and Israel, by targeting the facility, are playing Russian roulette [6:15] with the environmental security of the entire region. [6:21] But if the reactor, there was a breach in the reactor that could contaminate the waters of the [6:28] neighboring states, and as we speak, despite the attacks and strikes, the reactor core, as well as [6:37] the primary safety systems are yet completely secure. But if the intent is to cause mass [6:46] casualty damage, I think we will have a nuclear disaster. [6:51] The power plant, you know, due to the growing domestic consumption of the electricity, is these days [7:01] considered as an essential part of the Iran's, you know, power network and grid. And that's why, you [7:08] know, targeting the nuclear facility is not just related to the nuclear sphere, but it can also [7:15] impact the average citizens in terms of the electricity consumption and their, you know, [7:21] daily needs, given that there were power outages last summer in the country. So that is also part of the energy [7:30] infrastructure in the country as a whole, which, in addition to the nuclear consequences, can also [7:37] have repercussions for the Iranian average citizens and population. [7:42] Tariq, you are a former senior official of the IAEA. That's the part of the U.N. that deals with this. [7:50] Tell us, how fragile is the IAEA? [7:51] How fragile is a plant like Bushehr, particularly as it's quite old? [7:59] Well, nuclear power plants like Bushehr, their containment structure is designed to withstand a direct impact from an aircraft. [8:08] But that's the design. We don't know what might happen in reality. But more vulnerable is the external power supply [8:16] and the cooling water to the reactor. If the external power supply is damaged or cut off, [8:24] the reactor would need to be shut down and there could be the possibility of a core meltdown in the worst case. [8:32] The same thing would happen if the electricity means that the pumps are no longer providing cooling water to the reactor. [8:39] Then in the worst case, we could have a meltdown like in Chernobyl or Fukushima. [8:45] Now, as my colleagues have mentioned already in this program, the Persian Gulf is a restrictive body of water. [8:53] It's about a thousand kilometers long. [8:54] meters long, about 300 kilometers wide. Average depth is about 35 meters. But it takes three to [9:01] five years for the water of the Gulf to flush out and be exchanged with the water from the Indian [9:08] Ocean. So if the Gulf water were to be contaminated, this contamination would last for years. [9:15] And as has already been pointed out, the desalination plants would no longer work, [9:19] the fish supplies would no longer be available, and a large area, potentially hundreds of [9:25] kilometers, could be rendered uninhabitable for several years. Well, I'd like to look, sadly, [9:31] at more of those ideas of what the worst case scenario could be in a moment, Tariq. But back [9:38] to you, Alicia. This has now been hit, according to the Iranian authorities and to the IAEA, [9:45] the international agency, four times. [9:49] I mean, I know you are not Prime Minister Netanyahu, you're not President Trump, [9:54] but can you see any military reason to keep hitting the plant, or at least the area around the plant? [10:04] Absolutely not. And that's why the laws of war, the Geneva Conventions, explicitly prohibit [10:11] targeting nuclear-powered plants. It's in Geneva Convention Additional Protocol Article 56, [10:20] and it's even a part of the law. [10:21] It's a part of customary international law that it is banned to target nuclear-powered plants. [10:26] And that's because of the very serious risk of radioactive contamination that exists when [10:33] a nuclear-powered plant is attacked. So there's no military objective. That's why [10:39] governments agree to actually ban targeting nuclear-powered plants under international law. [10:44] So, Abbas, I mean, it seems to me that Iran has complained about this, [10:51] to the International Atomic Energy Agency. They have commented on it and said they're concerned. [10:58] But do you think their response has been adequate? Iran says it's not been adequate at this stage [11:04] and has compared it to the response of attacks we've seen during the Ukraine war [11:09] on the nuclear-powered plant at Zaporizhia. [11:16] James, you know, there has been a glaring double standard from the Western side that Iran believes that, [11:25] I mean, let's continue to have redenation against into the aftermath of the tapes of the airport panic. [11:32] The anti-cers and anti- момент policy of the Iranian nuclear facilities, [11:36] ujahi... [11:36] they treat the Western nuclear facilities as sacred, but when it comes to the uranium, [11:44] nuclear facilities they have been downplaying the strikes. Despite the four strikes against [11:50] a Bushehr nuclear plant also, we have also had attacks on ARAK, [11:54] heavy water reactor, [11:55] and [11:55] Energy Agency, expressing only concern and calling for a general restraint. [12:01] From a U.N. perspective, this only emboldens the aggressor, and this is a diplomatic cover [12:07] for continued attacks against the country. [12:10] This is, you know, attacking an operational civilian nuclear facility is not a military [12:17] strategy. [12:18] It is not degrading a, let's say, military architecture, but it is targeting the civilian, [12:24] you know, infrastructure in the country. [12:27] And under the Article 4 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has the right to research, production, [12:34] and use of peaceful nuclear program. [12:37] And that is why this is the violation of international law. [12:41] As it was stated by the other guests, it violates the Geneva Conventions. [12:46] So that's yet questioned that despite, you know, lots of attacks against Iranian nuclear [12:51] facilities. [12:52] The Director General of the United Nations has said, you know, this is not a military [12:53] strategy. [12:54] The Director General of the IAEA has suffice to just, you know, express concern and has [13:00] avoided to condemn those attacks. [13:03] We remember that there were, you know, in terms of these nuclear facility in Ukraine, [13:12] we remember the international panic then and the United Nations Security Council mobilized [13:21] to address the issue immediately. [13:23] But as, you know, we are seeing the attacks against Iranian nuclear facility, we are witnessing [13:30] a kind of international amnesia. [13:32] Okay. [13:33] Let me bring in Tariq on this because he used to work for the IAEA. [13:39] He doesn't represent them now. [13:41] But do you think it's fair criticism of the IAEA? [13:44] It's not said enough, the criticism there that you had from Abbas that the Director [13:49] General Rafael Grossi, a man who actually happens to be one of the candidates to be [13:53] the next UN Secretary General, is not being tough enough in his condemnation of what's [13:59] happened? [14:01] Well, I would start with the governing structure of the IAEA, that is the Board of Governors, [14:07] which consists of 35 member states of which 20 plus are Western or Western dominated. [14:13] They held two emergency meetings on attacks on nuclear facilities in Iran last year after [14:20] the June attacks. [14:22] But they insisted that there should be no condemnation. [14:24] Okay. [14:24] No resolution condemning the attacks against Iran. [14:29] And thus far, the IAEA Board of Governors has remained completely inactive, and they [14:34] have not instructed the Director General or the Secretariat either to take any initiative [14:39] in sending IAEA monitors to Bashir like the IAEA sent to the Zaporizhia and the Chernobyl [14:47] nuclear power plants in 2022, and they are still there. [14:51] So IAEA Director General, in one of his most recent comments. [14:54] Again, warned about attacks on nuclear facilities, and in particular raised concern about the [15:01] power supply to Bashir. [15:04] He also reiterated the seven essential fundamentals for nuclear security that not only include [15:11] a backup electrical supply, cooling water, but also no harassment of the operators at [15:17] the nuclear power plant. [15:19] So obviously the Iranian operators, as well as the Russian operators at this power plant, [15:24] are also under psychological stress, which again creates another dangerous situation. [15:31] So on the whole, the international community is being completely irresponsible. [15:35] The Security Council also has not raised this issue. [15:39] And I might add, there is Security Council Resolution 487 from 1991 against attacks on [15:45] nuclear facilities and numerous IAEA resolutions. [15:50] Next week there will be the meeting of the Convention on Nuclear Safety. [15:53] I think it's going to be very important. [15:54] Thank you. [15:54] Thank you very much. [15:57] I think it's going to be very important. [15:58] The President will have an opportunity to speak. [16:00] And I will say, I will speak on behalf of the International Committee on Nuclear Safety. [16:04] This governs nuclear safety practices at nuclear installations, and I doubt very much that [16:08] the Western countries would allow the safety of the Bashir plant to be raised. [16:12] So I'm glad that Al Jazeera is raising this issue and trying to bring the public's awareness [16:17] and the awareness of leaders that this is highly irresponsible to target deliberately [16:24] or even accidentally. [16:25] errant missile or an errant drone or an errant aircraft would either crash into the territory [16:29] of the reactor or its power supply and we shouldn't forget that there are four reactors on [16:35] the other side of the gulf at the baraka nuclear power plant in the uae so in all we have hundreds [16:42] of tons of nuclear material in the course of these five reactors okay let me stop you there [16:51] for a moment and ask and ask alicia to pick up that point then what is the worst case scenario [16:58] what could the human toll be here well the reason that attacking nuclear power plants is banned [17:09] under international law is because of the potentially catastrophic consequences for [17:14] human health and the environment of the release of ionizing radiation ionizing radiation is [17:21] really uniquely horrific [17:24] as a weapon of warfare it is unpredictable in that it can be carried by wind patterns [17:33] to really around the world where wherever the wind may go when this radioactive contamination [17:41] has been released into the environment it is non-discriminant it will impact civilians and [17:49] fighters alike does not discriminate on that basis [17:53] it [17:54] disproportionately harms uh women and girls particularly uh children ionizing radiation has [18:01] a disproportionately harmful effect and it will last for generations I mean you know looking at the [18:09] half-lifes of the radioactive isotopes that were released uh in the Chernobyl incident for example [18:16] you have cesium with a half-life of 30 years or strontium-90 isotopes that were released and had [18:24] impacts on people and the environment uh so it's it's really impossible to predict exactly what would happen [18:31] okay we know let me bring in tarik again because I want I want you two experts just to paint this [18:38] scenario very clearly it's very very grim but we do have the experience of Fukushima back in 2011 [18:45] tarik and Chernobyl in 1986. tell us in the worst case scenario what these radioactive elements that [18:54] this year has just mentioned what they could do to a human body well retroactive elements like cesium [19:03] and strontium they are long-lived they have long half-lives the first part that would be affected [19:08] in the human body from radiation would be the thyroid and therefore the emergency measures [19:14] around most nuclear power plants are to keep iodine tablets for people to take so the iodine [19:20] would saturate the thyroid and prevent exposure but given the type of exposure [19:26] uh that could be blisters and people could die very soon from blistering loss of consciousness [19:33] loss of blood this is what happened unfortunately to the firemen who were trying to extinguish the [19:39] fire at the reactor in Chernobyl and as Alicia mentioned penetrating radiation really destroys [19:48] the tissues and leads to cancers cancers destroy cells leading to death and death of the person [19:56] so Keith Benioff I mean what we don't know is how far those aceite releases are likely to get [20:04] and this to do with the amount of radiation that's going into the blood of people okay [20:08] I'd also add that overall in thewe also believe it will be very dawn in [20:21] you I've mentioned earlier we already hotel andatal a.m. near the you know the emotional [20:26] of the iranian people about other attacks because there are other nuclear facilities [20:33] james there are different types of concerns you know in a bigger picture you know the [20:40] tehran research reactor is meeting the pharmaceutical needs of the country and they are [20:48] meant to somehow address the problems of hundreds of thousands of patients who are suffering from [20:54] cancer so if that is disrupted this could also uh you know impact their treatment process in the [21:02] longer run but as uh the place i'm talking to you is just couple of kilometers away from the round [21:08] research reactor a few times there have been some instructions that in case an incident happens what [21:16] the people around the facility need to do or they have been trying to reassure the public here [21:24] the surrounding that they have uh taking care of the situation makers making sure that there will [21:30] be no leakage but speaking of the facilities like in boucher i think there could be different levels [21:38] of you know consequences one is the leakage if there is any breach from the reactor it [21:44] would not recognize borders so that will not be limited to iran but to neighboring states [21:49] and i think the second aspect is that the precedent that this is setting that [21:54] it is normalizing attacks and strikes against peaceful nuclear facilities [22:00] today it's about iran tomorrow it can be subject to other countries [22:04] and last but not least that iran has you know warned that it will reciprocate under the article [22:12] 59 of the u.n charter uh meaning that it can also initiate uh you know attacks against nuclear [22:18] facilities in israel like the mona so this could have a let's say regional catastrophe if [22:24] there is a conflict between the two countries in case you know this happens and the other party [22:30] uh intends to somehow uh create a scenario whereby there could be a serious you know damages or [22:39] consequences of the ongoing strikes and alicia that could be the problem couldn't it because [22:46] escalation has continued um in this war for now over a month iran did fire at central israel near [22:54] na which is where israel has its not-so-secret uh nuclear program uh in the middle of march [23:03] and as tarik says the other part of the puzzle is in the united arab emirates where there is [23:10] the biggest uh nuclear facility in the middle east built just in the last few years at baraka [23:18] absolutely this really speaks to the wider concerns in the region of course in the immediate [23:25] term uh all [23:26] attacks near nuclear facilities must be halted and widely condemned by the international community [23:34] but there also needs to be a step towards broader peace and security at least where it concerns [23:41] nuclear facilities in the region and there we really need to make use of existing international [23:47] treaties there's the new thermal proliferation treaty and the treaty on the prohibition of [23:53] nuclear weapons both of these seek to constrain [23:57] uh nuclear behavior uh iran is a party to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty israel is not [24:03] although as you mentioned it's widely acknowledged by experts that israel does possess nuclear [24:09] weapons and neither have currently joined the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons [24:14] which bans all nuclear weapons activities as we've said before military strikes are completely [24:21] ineffective to work towards non-proliferation and certainly towards broader peace and security in the [24:27] region and it's really essential that all all countries in the region and internationally join [24:33] these international treaties and and work towards total nuclear disarmament so tarik um given the [24:40] risks that are there and that you have laid out and alicia's laid out in terms of of what this [24:47] could do what do you make of this constant escalation and also the language we're hearing [24:54] including from the president of the united states saying [24:57] he's going to bomb or could bomb iran back to the stone age well unfortunately we seem to be living [25:06] in a lawless nuclear age where there is no impunity to attacks civilians are have been targeted [25:14] remorselessly in gaza and lebanon now in in iran coming back to the demona reactor this [25:22] is a 60-year-old reactor and the nuclear safety establishment of israel itself has pointed out [25:28] that the containment dome of demona is severely weakened and it's much more susceptible to a [25:34] catastrophic collapse were it to be hit by a projectile uh launched by one of israel's [25:40] enemies so i would think that that ought to be sufficient deterrence for israel at least to [25:45] withhold attacking nuclear facilities uh in in iran okay if i could bring in a bus very quickly [25:54] at the end abbas you have had bombardment for more [25:58] than a month going on you are constantly living with bombs falling given that i mean the nuclear [26:04] dimension are people worried about that or do they not have time to worry about anything more [26:10] than they're facing right now uh james from where i'm speaking to you uh people are experiencing [26:18] you know uh daily basis you know bombardments and this is somehow considered the an immediate [26:25] threat to them that is you know getting their attention uh how is that going to affect the [26:30] environment it is thing by design i think that this is something very important so i haveですね [26:33] the atlantic universities are very interested in see what the challenges we may encounter [26:34] however the nuclear aspect also could be uh much more visible or the concerns in areas like in [26:37] bushire or uh areas or neighborhoods close to the tehran research reactor but i think the explosions [26:46] heard on a daily basis are getting more attention than the nuclear aspect and let's not forget that [26:54] the discussion we had this is not just about the nuclear issue but it's about targeting iranian [26:59] energy infrastructure you know other areas and signals that we've had in the ocean and uh Turkey [27:01] uh two powers holding uh lots of nuclear warheads and weapons are target targeting [27:08] civilian peaceful nuclear facilities in a country who's a party to non-proliferation treaty and [27:17] this is something which is being in a bigger context where iran is seeing that [27:21] the cumulative trend of targeting iran iranian infrastructure when it comes to industry to [27:29] science health as well as energy has been rising and this is part of the effort in order to make [27:36] the governance very difficult for the government the day after and when this conflict ends thank [27:44] you very much abbas aslani also to tarik raouf and alicia sander zakre if you missed any of today's [27:52] discussion remember you can always find all of our programs on our website available to you whenever [27:57] you want aljazeera.com [27:59] also like to hear your thoughts and ideas go to our facebook page that's facebook.com forward slash [28:03] aj inside story or use x there look for at aj inside story that's it from me james bays and all [28:10] the team until next time stay tuned aljazeera's comprehensive coverage continues in just a moment