Nuclear Watchdog Eyes Stronger Reactor Defenses After UAE Attack

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(Bloomberg) — Iran’s attack last month on a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates has prompted the world’s atomic watchdog to look at whether reactors’ external power supply lines need additional protection against the threat of war.

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The strike on the Barakah facility exposed vulnerabilities that few in the industry had seriously contemplated when the plant was designed, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on Friday. While the plant withstood the attack without a radiological emergency, it triggered a temporary loss of offsite power, forcing emergency diesel generators to kick in, he said. 

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Such backup power sources are one of the last lines of defense to maintain nuclear safety. Reactors need a constant supply of electricity to keep cooling and circulation running. Without those systems, fuel inside a reactor’s core can overheat, potentially resulting in a dangerous release of radiation, as happened in 2011 at Japan’s Fukushima plant.

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“The industry recognizes we live in a world of conflict,” Grossi said. Utilities and regulators need to increase their emphasis on emergency preparedness, particularly backup electricity supplies and grid connections, he said. 

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The IAEA is now working with UAE authorities to assess lessons from the Barakah incident, he said. 

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The attack on the UAE has sharpened a debate that’s been quietly spreading through the nuclear industry since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: How do operators protect reactors in an era when major energy infrastructure is increasingly viewed as a wartime target?

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Fighting around Ukraine’s Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has repeatedly raised fears of a severe accident. Strikes near Iran’s reactor in Bushehr have similarly prompted concerns over contamination. Russia itself has seen attacks affect the operations of one of its nuclear facilities in Kursk. 

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These risks have implications beyond existing nuclear fleets. Governments and developers are promoting a new generation of small modular reactors, with ambitions to deploy potentially thousands of units across hundreds of jurisdictions in the coming decades. That expansion depends on convincing investors, regulators and local communities that reactors can operate safely under a widening range of threats.

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For the IAEA and the industry, the concern is not only the risk of physical damage. Repeated attacks on nuclear facilities also risk normalizing the idea that reactors are legitimate military targets, potentially complicating licensing, financing and public acceptance of new projects. 

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“An attack on any facility wherever it is located is unacceptable,” Grossi said. It should be a “a no-go, a taboo.”

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