Rosatom: Number of Russian Specialists Back at Bushehr Plant Reaches 42

Alexey Likhachev, CEO of Russia's state owned Rosatom, said the number of Russian specialists who have returned to Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant has now reached 42, according to Russia's Interfax news agency, as reported by Ecoiran on Sunday, Shahrivar 1, 1405 (August 23, 2026). The figure marks a notable rise from the 25 specialists Rosatom had reported on August 9 and 10. Likhachev said that if current conditions hold, the number of Russian staff at the plant will reach about 100 by this autumn, describing the situation at Bushehr as "calm and stable."

Rosatom began withdrawing its staff from Bushehr after US and Israeli military strikes on Iran in late February; Bloomberg reported in April that the number of Russian personnel at the plant had fallen to a minimum operational level of about 20. Bushehr is Iran's only operating reactor, and construction of its Units 2 and 3, which would nearly double the country's nuclear generation capacity, was halted last March after strikes near the complex.