Russia's Rosatom Begins Main Phase of Staff Evacuation from Iran

Moscow (ANTARA) - Russia’s state nuclear company, Rosatom, has begun the main phase of evacuating staff from the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Iran, as stated by Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev on Saturday (4/4). Likhachev revealed that 198 Rosatom staff are being transported by bus to the Iran-Armenia border. “We very much hope that in the next two to three days, our colleagues will be able to cross almost the entire territory of Iran safely and return to our country,” he said. Likhachev noted that the Iranian side has taken many measures to ensure the security of the evacuation route for the Rosatom staff, and cooperation with the Armenian Government is proceeding smoothly. He stated that the Russian nuclear experts will depart the area via Yerevan Airport. Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation previously reported that a projectile had struck an area near the Bushehr NPP, killing a security officer and marking the fourth such attack since the US-Israel strikes against Iran began on 28 February. The Bushehr NPP, located about 17 km southeast of Bushehr City and constructed in cooperation with Russia, began supplying electricity in September 2011. In November 2014, Iran and Russia signed an agreement for cooperation to add two more reactors to the plant.