Satellite images show damage inside Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported that satellite imagery indicates new damage within Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant complex after a recent escalation between the United States and Iran. The outlet said its open-source unit compared European Sentinel-2 images from July 7 and July 12 and identified fresh impact marks inside the Bushehr complex, as well as another apparent strike location in nearby support facilities.

The report linked the imagery to a wider mapping effort using satellite photos, field footage and US Central Command data on strikes across Iran from July 7 to July 15. CENTCOM said it hit about 90 military targets on July 7-8, including air defence systems, missile and drone storage sites, naval assets and other military infrastructure along Iran’s southern coast. Al Jazeera noted that the US did not list Bushehr or any nuclear site among its announced targets.

According to Iran’s state news agency IRNA, Bushehr province deputy governor Ehsan Jahanian said on July 9 that several locations in the province had been struck, including areas around the nuclear plant, a military site in Choghadak and a southern fishing port. He later denied that the plant itself had been hit, saying the reactor was unaffected and operating normally.

Bushehr is Iran’s only operating nuclear power station, located about 17km south of Bushehr city. Al Jazeera said its Bushehr-1 reactor has a net electrical capacity of about 915 megawatts and entered commercial operation in 2013. The report also cited earlier 2026 Iranian notifications to the IAEA about projectile incidents at or near the plant, with authorities saying each time that the reactor remained normal. The IAEA has warned that attacks on nuclear facilities pose risks to people, the environment and nuclear safety.