Russia Calls for Urgent 'Safety Island' Around Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Plant

Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev warns of regional catastrophe after a projectile strikes 350m from the Bushehr reactor, calling for a total exclusion zone.

By: AXL Media

Published: Mar 19, 2026, 11:45 AM EDT

Source: Reuters

The Incident and Immediate Risks

The Bushehr plant, Iran’s only operating nuclear power station, has become a high-risk focal point in the escalating conflict involving U.S. and Israeli airstrikes. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), while the reactor itself remains undamaged and radiation levels are currently normal, the destruction of a building just 350 meters away marks the closest a kinetic strike has come to the core since hostilities intensified in late February. Rosatom officials emphasized that the site also stores 210 tons of spent nuclear fuel, which poses a significant risk of environmental contamination if the cooling systems or storage pools are compromised.

Rosatom’s Strategic Withdrawal and Personnel Safety

In response to the deteriorating security situation, Rosatom has begun a major evacuation of its specialized workforce. Hundreds of Russian engineers and technicians have been moved out of the country in recent weeks. Likhachev announced that a final phase of evacuation is planned, which will leave only a skeleton crew of a "few dozen employees" to maintain essential safety operations. This withdrawal signals Russia's growing concern that the facility can no longer be guaranteed protection despite its civilian status and the precise geographic coordinates known to all combatants.

The Proposed "Safety Island" Protocol

The Russian proposal for a "safety island" seeks a formal commitment from all parties to the conflict—specifically naming the U.S. and Israel—to exclude the Bushehr site and the new units currently under construction from their targeting lists. Likhachev’s appeal is aimed at preventing a "recurrence of such risks," arguing that political leaders must intervene to ensure that even a "hint" of a direct strike is ruled out. This move reflects a broader Russian effort to protect its multi-billion dollar nuclear infrastructure investments in Iran while avoiding the political fallout of a nuclear incident on its watch.