Rosatom: Return of Specialists to Bushehr Plant Begins, Full Return Tied to Final Ceasefire

Alexey Likhachev, CEO of Russia's state owned Rosatom, said Sunday, 18 Mordad 1405 (August 9, 2026), that the return of the company's specialists to Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant has begun, with five of them already back at work. He said the total number of Russian specialists at the plant has reached 25 and, if conditions permit, will rise to 100 by autumn. Likhachev stressed that the full return of specialists who left Iran due to wartime conditions is possible only once a final ceasefire between Iran and the United States is reached. Rosatom nonetheless plans to send the next group, numbering in the dozens, within two weeks, provided tensions between Iran and the US do not escalate further. According to Ecoiran, citing ISNA, construction of the main and auxiliary buildings for Bushehr's units 2 and 3 is continuing, and preliminary work on hydraulic structures has also started.