Over the past four years, civilian nuclear energy facilities have increasingly become targets of direct or indirect attacks in armed conflicts. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in occupied Ukraine is the most high-profile example. But other plants in the country and neighboring regions of Russia are also exposed to risks of attacks (intentional or otherwise) and dangers from construction delays and personnel evacuations. 

Now, alarm bells have started ringing about the Bushehr NPP in Iran. 

All these facilities were built based on Russian designs and are, to varying degrees, linked to a single state nuclear corporation — Rosatom.

Russia has long been actively involved in Iran’s nuclear program. The largest project within this cooperation is the Bushehr NPP. Construction of the first unit at the site began as early as 1975 by the West German company Kraftwerk Union, but was halted in 1979 following the Islamic Revolution. 

Then, in 1995, Russia signed contracts to complete the unit using a VVER-1000 reactor and to supply nuclear fuel for the first ten years of its operation. Russia is also committed to taking back spent nuclear fuel for reprocessing.

The unit was connected to the grid in 2011 and entered commercial operation in 2013. A year later, a contract was signed for the construction of the second phase of the plant, consisting of two additional VVER-1000 units with a total cost of around $10 billion. Notably, the project has been fully financed by Iran without the use of Russian loans. 

At present, Rosatom is involved in the construction of the second unit at Bushehr, although the bulk of the work is being carried out by local contractors. Construction of the third unit has not yet officially begun.

In September 2025, an agreement was signed to build a second Russian-designed nuclear power plant in Iran, in the Sirik area of the Hormozgan region. The project includes four reactor units with a total capacity of 5,020 MW. Its estimated cost is around $25 billion and, unlike Bushehr, it is expected to involve Russian financing.

However, in the context of the ongoing full-scale war in Iran, the prospects for any large-scale nuclear construction in the near future appear highly uncertain.

Rosatom CEO Warns of Rising Threat to Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Plant

The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is not directly linked to Iran's potential military nuclear program. The plant has operated under........

© The Moscow Times