Though Israel has launched attacks on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure the strikes have mainly targeted uranium enrichment facilities rather than active reactors.
According to nuclear experts speaking to BBC News, such strikes are unlikely to trigger a catastrophic “nuclear incident” like those seen at Chernobyl or Fukushima. This is because enrichment sites do not host nuclear reactions.
In nuclear reactors, uranium atoms undergo fission, releasing energy and creating highly radioactive waste. However, enrichment facilities are used only to produce nuclear fuel, not to initiate fission.
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Professor Simon Middleburgh, a nuclear materials expert at Bangor University, said that bombing an enrichment plant might cause enriched uranium to escape into the surrounding area. Still, he emphasized that no nuclear chain reaction would occur, meaning the danger would be limited.
“The risks would be localised,” he noted, “with no significant radiological threat beyond a small exclusion zone around the targeted facility.”
Source: BBC