On Monday, June 16, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the United Nations stated that Israel’s airstrikes had caused a power outage, severely damaging or destroying nearly all of the 15,000 centrifuges at Iran’s largest uranium enrichment facility in Natanz.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, in an interview with the BBC, said, “Our assessment is that due to the sudden interruption of external power supply, these centrifuges are likely to have been severely damaged, or even completely destroyed.”
Despite the fact that the underground hall housing the centrifuges used for uranium enrichment did not directly suffer the attack, Grossi mentioned that significant damage was likely caused.
He further mentioned that four buildings at the Isfahan nuclear facility were also damaged, but the Fordo enrichment plant underground had not been significantly impacted.
Israel has indicated that the attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities and the killing of nine nuclear scientists were aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
It is reported that Iran has recently taken steps to “weaponize its enriched uranium stockpile,” which can be used both for producing fuel for power plants and for manufacturing nuclear weapons.
On Monday morning, Grossi informed the IAEA Board of Governors that the agency had been closely monitoring the situation in Iran, assessing the condition of Iran’s nuclear facilities, and evaluating radiation levels through communication with the local government.
He stated that the attack on Natanz last Friday destroyed the above-ground portion of the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP), where cascades of centrifuges were producing uranium with a purity as high as 60%, close to the 90% required for weapons-grade uranium.
“There are no signs of physical attack on the underground cascade halls (including parts of the fuel enrichment plant and the main enrichment plant). However, the cascade halls losing power may have damaged the centrifuges there,” Grossi told the committee.
Grossi then told the BBC, “We assess that due to the sudden interruption of external power supply, the centrifuges are likely to have been severely damaged, or even completely destroyed.”
“The electrical equipment has been almost entirely damaged,” he added.
Centrifuges are delicate and intricately balanced machines that spin the uranium hexafluoride gas at extremely high speeds. Even a minor issue, such as power outage, can cause the centrifuges to spin out of control, leading to collisions between components and damaging the entire cascade.
Grossi also mentioned that there is radioactive and chemical contamination on-site, but the external radiation levels remain unchanged and at normal levels.
The Israeli military claimed that the underground centrifuge hall at Natanz was also damaged in the attack, but did not provide any evidence to support the claim.