The blows that Israel managed to the Hondab Heavy Water Research Reactor under construction (formerly Arak) and in adjacent facilities in the IranThe International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed at midnight on Thursday (19.06.2025), in a statement.
The reactor of heavy water, as originally designed, could produce plutonium which can be used for the construction of a nuclear weapon, although Iran has repeatedly assured that its nuclear program concerns exclusively non -military purposes.
Under the 2015 agreement with the West, this installation was redesigned, the reactor core was removed and sealed with concrete. Iran had informed the IAEA that the reactor was expected to be launched in 2026.
“The IAEA has information that Hondab’s Heavy Water Research Reactor (formerly Arak), who is under construction, was hit. It did not operate and contain nuclear material, so there were no radiological effects, “a report by the International Atomic Energy Organization on X (formerly Twitter) said.
Heavy water, also known as the Oxide of Deuterium, is used as a neutron retardant during the nuclear fission process that reacts heat to the reactor.
In a previous post on the Israeli attack on Hondab, the IAEA said it had no information suggesting that the adjacent heavy water production facility had been hit. But then he confirmed the blow.
“Although the damage to the adjacent heavy water production plant was not initially visible, it is now estimated that the main buildings of the facility were hit, including the distillation unit,” the international atomic energy organization said.