Rosatom says it is gradually increasing its workforce at Iran’s Bushehr NPP, describing the situation at the facility as calm. Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev said the number of Rosatom employees who had returned to the plant had increased to 63. “Yesterday, another 18 specialists joined our team at the plant. The team is working on the construction of power units 2 and 3 in cooperation with Iranian contractors. The number of members of the Russian team at the plant has reached 63.”
In March, Rosatom evacuated hundreds of staff after the US and Israel launched their strikes on Iran on 28 February. Likhachev said that currently, construction efforts are focused on building reactor buildings and turbine halls for two power units, while unit 1 continues to operate at full capacity.
“Taking regional conditions into account, we are increasing the number of employees. Safety is the top priority. The situation at the project site is currently calm; however, a significant increase in the number of our employees in Iran will only be possible once peace agreements between Iran and the United States have been finalised and stabilised,” he added.
Russia is assisting with the construction of units 2&3 at the Bushehr NPP, where the first unit with a 915 MWe VVER reactor has been in operation since 2011. Construction of the Bushehr NPP began in 1975 with a West German company but stopped in 1979 after the start of the Islamic revolution. In 1992, Russia and Iran signed an agreement to continue construction of the station using Russian VVER-1000 technology. Unit 1 was officially transferred to Iran in September 2013. First concrete for unit 2 was poured in 2019 and the core catcher was installed in 2024.
