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Sydney Morning Herald

Radiation dangers of three nuclear sites struck by the US

The technology centre has three small Chinese-built research reactors, a lab which makes the uranium hexafluoride gas, a reactor fuel manufacturing plant and a nuclear waste storage facility. In 2021, the IAEA found a plant at Isfahan created uranium metal, which can be used to make the core of a nuclear weapon. 'Uranium metal is less chemically hazardous than uranium hexafluoride gas, but it poses a significant radiation risk,' Diaz-Maurin said. He warned the radiological consequences of a strike on research reactors could be significant. The IAEA said there was no off-site rise in radiation levels after earlier Israeli bombing of Isfahan. Natanz Risk of radioactive contamination from the bombing of Iran's main facility for uranium enrichment at Natanz is very low, according to Diaz-Maurin. Enrichment occurs is when uranium is centrifuged at high speeds to process it into weapons-grade material. About 15,000 underground enrichment centrifuges were already destroyed or badly damaged by Israeli bombing. The centrifuges contain tiny amounts of uranium hexafluoride, which is one of the most corrosive substances on Earth. The gas also creates toxic fluoride when it comes into contact with moisture. A hexafluoride gas storage facility was also already damaged, resulting in radiological and chemical contamination contained at the site. Loading 'The main risk inside the storage facility is the chemical toxicity of uranium hexafluoride gas and fluoride compounds generated in contact with water,' Diaz-Maurin wrote. 'The radiological risk from enriched uranium at Natanz is likely to be much smaller than the chemical toxicity from the fluorine.' He warned that although uranium hexafluoride was not directly fissile – or able to undergo nuclear fission – damage could cause a dangerous explosion. 'If moisture enters transport or storage cylinders, uranium, especially enriched uranium, becomes more reactive. 'This could potentially lead to a chemical explosion of the cylinders, resulting in a significant dispersion of uranium hexafluoride gas into the facility and possibly into the environment – a scenario possible even without an attack.' Experts told Reuters the slightly radioactive gas did not tend to travel far if released. Fordow B2 bombers struck the underground Fordow facility with at least six 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs, The New York Times reported. Risk of off-site radiation contamination from the facility is also very low because it's an enrichment plant. Fordow is also built within a mountain 90 metres underground, further reducing the risk contamination would spread. 'Should a subterranean enrichment facility or reactor be hit by one or more bunker-busters, it is unlikely that there would be significant contamination beyond the confines of the site,' Dr Simon Bennett, director of the civil safety and security unit at the University of Leicester, said. Loading Experts are most concerned about the prospect of a strike on Bushehr nuclear power plant. A strike which pierced the plant's nuclear reactor or interrupt power supply could release radioactive material into the atmosphere, contaminate the waters of the Gulf and trigger evacuation of people hundreds of kilometres from the site, Grossi warned. He underlined the IAEA's belief that armed attacks on nuclear facilities should never take place.