Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom is preparing to send its specialists back to Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant starting mid-July, following months of phased evacuations that pulled roughly 813 Russian personnel out of Bushehr earlier in 2026 as strikes escalated across the region. At the lowest point, only about 20 essential Russian staff remained at the facility. Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev says the return can begin “in the coming weeks,” provided the risk of strikes continues to diminish.
Even with nearly all Russian specialists evacuated, construction on Units 2 and 3 kept moving forward. Around 2,200 Iranian contractors continued building through the conflict period. As of May 2026, the reactor for Unit 2 was reported to be over 60% complete.
Bushehr Unit 1 has been operational since 2011 under Rosatom’s management. The expansion to Units 2 and 3 represents a deepening of the Russia-Iran nuclear partnership that traces back to contracts signed in the 1990s.
Rosatom had previously planned to begin returning staff earlier, but postponed the move on May 28 due to ongoing tensions in the region.
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