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What are the radiation risks from bombings at plants like Fordow?

2025-06-22 13:41:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

What are the radiation risks from bombings at plants like Fordow?

An enrichment site, like Fordow's, takes uranium, which comes in different forms, or isotopes, and separates it into the type of uranium used for nuclear reactors and bombs.

But dropping a bomb on properly stored enriched uranium stocks does not constitute a “nuclear incident” on the same scale as the disasters that occurred at the nuclear power plants in Fukushima or Chernobyl.

"Highly enriched uranium is about three times more radioactive than unenriched uranium. But actually, on the scale of things, neither of them is particularly radioactively dense. It wouldn't cause a major environmental pollution problem," explains Prof Jim Smith, from the University of Portsmouth, who has studied the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster.

Smith says he's most concerned about "fission products," "the things that uranium splits into when it's in a reactor or in a bomb."

But since no nuclear reaction is taking place at enrichment sites - and a bomb explosion would not cause one - these "dangerous radioactive fission products" would not be present, he says.

Uranium radiation also doesn't travel far, making any risk more of a local problem. For people near the site, inhaling uranium particles can cause long-term health problems.

Some of the substances used in uranium enrichment are also chemically hazardous, but would only contaminate the immediate area.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - the UN nuclear watchdog - previously said there had been no "increased off-site radiation levels" reported after the US struck three nuclear plants in Iran. But it said it would provide further assessments once more information became available./ CNA





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