Targeting Iran’s nuclear sites through military strikes would not trigger a nuclear disaster comparable to the catastrophic accidents at Chernobyl or Fukushima, nuclear experts have told BBC News.

Although attacks on Iran’s nuclear programme have taken place in the past, they have largely been directed at uranium enrichment facilities rather than nuclear reactors.

Experts emphasise that these enrichment facilities do not carry the same risks as nuclear power stations. In a nuclear reactor, uranium atoms are split in a controlled fission reaction, generating heat to produce electricity and creating highly radioactive waste.

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Enrichment facilities, by contrast, are used to refine uranium to be used as fuel—they do not host any nuclear reactions themselves.

Simon Middleburgh, a nuclear materials scientist from Bangor University, explained the difference: “The uranium being enriched would be ejected from the facility – possibly into the environment. But no nuclear reaction is likely to occur, and therefore the hazards would remain local and pose no radiological risk beyond a small exclusion zone around the facility.”

The clarification comes amid renewed tensions and concerns about potential military actions targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.