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Russia Says Cyberattack On Iran Could Have Sparked Nuclear Disaster


Dmitry Rogozin (file photo)
Dmitry Rogozin (file photo)
A Russian official says a recent cyberattack on Iran's atomic-energy program could have triggered a nuclear catastrophe on the scale of the Chornobyl disaster in 1986.

Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to NATO, said the virus that hit the computer system at Iran's Bushehr reactor had caused centrifuges to spin out of control.

He called on NATO to investigate.

Iran began fueling the Russian-made nuclear plant at Bushehr last year.

Officials have said the reactor will begin generating energy early this year, a delay of several months following the spread of the global computer virus, known as Stuxnet, which is believed mainly to have affected Iran.

compiled from agency reports

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