Arabic version: صور الأقمار الصناعية تكشف أضرارًا في محطة بوشهر الإيرانية
Satellite imagery shows new impact scars inside Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant complex following the latest wave of US strikes during renewed military escalation between Washington and Tehran.
According to Al Jazeera, a comparison of European Sentinel-2 satellite images captured on July 7 and July 12 shows newly formed impact scars inside the Bushehr complex, along with another apparent strike site within nearby support facilities.
Al Jazeera’s open-source unit compiled satellite imagery, field footage and official data from the US Central Command (CENTCOM) to map the locations of US strikes across Iran between July 7 and July 15. CENTCOM said it struck about 90 military targets on July 7-8, including air defence systems, missile and drone storage sites, naval assets and military infrastructure along Iran’s southern coast. The US did not identify Bushehr or any nuclear facility among the announced targets. Ehsan Jahanian, deputy governor of Bushehr province, told state media on July 9 that several locations across the province had been struck, including areas surrounding the Bushehr nuclear power plant; he later denied reports that the reactor itself had been hit, saying the reactor remained unaffected and continued operating normally.
Bushehr is Iran’s only operating nuclear power plant. The 2.5-square-kilometre complex sits about 17km south of the city of Bushehr and includes reactor buildings, cooling-water channels connected to the ocean, assembly halls and a harbour used to receive equipment and materials. The site contains two reactor buildings, one operational and another that has remained unfinished for years. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Power Reactor Information System (PRIS), Bushehr-1 has a net electrical capacity of about 915 megawatts; it was first connected to Iran’s electricity grid in September 2011 and entered commercial operation in September 2013.
This matters because, unlike enrichment facilities, the operating Bushehr reactor contains nuclear fuel and radioactive materials, so damage to cooling, power supply or containment systems would be especially sensitive. The IAEA has repeatedly stressed that nuclear facilities should never become targets of armed attacks because of potential consequences for people, the environment and regional nuclear safety.
Related sections: Arab | Middle East/الشرق الأوسط | General | World/العالم
