‘Chernobyl disaster’ fears, or presence of Russians? Why didn't the US attack Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant in Operation Midnight Hammer?

Operation Midnight Hammer spared Bushehr: Why didn't the US target the Bushehr plant during its Operation Midnight Hammer on Sunday, targeting Iranian nuclear installations? The first answer would be that the plant is linked to Iran's peaceful nuclear programme, and was possibly not a site worth attacking. But there's something deeper. An attack on the site would have resulted in a Chernobyl-like nuclear disaster. But more significant could be the presence of Russians working in the facility. Here is what you should know about the Bushehr nuclear power plant and its Russian connection.

Warnings of Chernobyl-like disaster

Both global experts and Russian officials had warned of a possibly catastrophic radiological event if Bushehr, built with Russian assistance in the 1970s, was attacked by the US or Israel. They compared the aftermath of a potential strike on Bushehr to the Chernobyl disaster of April 1986. The erstwhile Soviet Union city had to be closed entirely, after fuel leaked from its nuclear facility, leading to explosions, deaths that are still not fully counted, and radiation that continues to this day. Severe environmental and geopolitical consequences would have followed if Bushehr was attacked.

The Russian hand in the Bushehr plant

The Bushehr power plant is a civilian nuclear facility, located on the Gulf Coast of Iran. Over the years, the Russians have been helping Iran build and operate Bushehr.

Additional reactors are in the process of being built with Russian assistance, as mentioned by Alexey Likhachev, the head of Russian atomic energy agency Rosatom.

Russia is monitoring Iran nuclear situation

Russia has said in recent days that it was prepared to evacuate Russian personnel if Iranian nuclear facilities are attacked. Bushehr is one such facility, where at least 300 personnel were involved or are/were present.

Amid the ongoing strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, which started with Israel bombings on June 13, and Sunday's US bombings, both countries assured Russia that their workers would not be harmed.
Such a harm would be a diplomatic catastrophe, forcing Russia to act, and even possibly intervene, in the current war.

Bushehr nuclear plant was started by the Germans, not Russians

In fact, it is not Russia, but erstwhile West Germany, mainly its company Siemens, which started building the Bushehr nuclear power plant in 1975, during the Pahlavi Shah dynasty era of Iran. But after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Germans pulled out of the project, and Russia entered the scene, building and operating the plant.
Rosatom completed the construction of Bushehr in 2011, with a 1,000-MW reactor.

Russia has got contracts for building eight additional reactors for Iran, four of which are at Bushehr.

Russia also supplies nuclear fuel to Iran. Once used, the spent fuel is returned to Russia, to prevent proliferation, by Iran.