Major Nuclear Facilities of Iran, Location and Significance

Israel carried out a massive aerial attack codenamed Operation Rising Lion on 13 June 2025, targeting several Iranian nuclear and military installations, including the vital Natanz enrichment plant. Employing more than 200 warplanes in successive waves, the attack reportedly wiped out key targets like IRGC Commander Hossein Salami, Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri, and prominent nuclear scientists like Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi.

Whereas the IAEA ensured no radiation leakage at Natanz, heavy explosions were reported in Tehran and other provinces. Iran retaliated by sending more than 100 drones towards Israel, causing regional airspace shutdowns and global concern over a possible wider escalation. Read this article to get the details of the Major Nuclear Facilities of Iran.

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Major Nuclear Facilities of Iran

Iran has several major nuclear facilities, primarily involved in uranium enrichment, nuclear research, and power generation. These facilities have been subject to international monitoring and agreements, especially under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the JCPOA (Iran Nuclear Deal). Here are the major nuclear facilities of Iran:

Natanz Nuclear Facility: Uranium Enrichment

• Shahid Ahmadi Roshan Nuclear Facility
• Location: Central Isfahan Province
• Significance
  • Natanz is Iran’s main uranium enrichment plant.
  • It contains thousands of centrifuges (older IR-1s and newer models such as IR-2m, IR-4, IR-6) that enrich uranium.
  • Part of the facility is buried underground to shield it from possible airstrikes, and Iran is excavating deeper underground facilities as well.
• Natanz has been hit by a number of sabotage attacks, suspected to be from Israel, and the Stuxnet computer worm attack.

Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP): Uranium Enrichment

• Location: Near Qom, buried deep inside a mountain.
• Significance
  • Fordo is the second major uranium enrichment site
  • Highly fortified against airstrikes. Originally secret, but revealed by Western intelligence in 2009.
  • It is smaller than Natanz but highly fortified and located deep within a mountain and covered by anti-aircraft batteries, making it extremely resistant to aerial attacks.
  • Fordo makes use of high-tech centrifuges and has been employed for enriching uranium to higher levels.

Also Read: US-Iran Nuclear Talks

Arak Heavy Water Reactor (IR-40): Plutonium production

• Khondab Heavy Water Reactor
• Location: Markazi Province, located in southwest Tehran
• Significance
  • It can produce plutonium, which can be used in nuclear weapons.
  • This site is linked to a heavy water reactor (IR-40) and a heavy water manufacturing facility.
  • Heavy water reactors can also generate plutonium as a byproduct, providing a different route to a nuclear weapon
• As part of the 2015 nuclear accord (JCPOA), Iran committed to redesigning the reactor to restrict plutonium production and had the original core made inoperable. Work on the redesigned reactor is ongoing.

Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant: Civilian nuclear energy production

• Location: Southern Iran, near the Persian Gulf
• Significance:
  • Iran’s only operational nuclear power plant. Built with Russian assistance.
  • Bushehr is Iran’s sole running civilian nuclear power station.
  • The plant is mainly for the generation of electricity and is subject to IAEA monitoring.
• Iran is also building other reactors at this location.

Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center (INTC)

• Location: Isfahan
• Purpose: Research and uranium conversion
• Significance
  • Includes a uranium conversion facility (UCF) that produces uranium hexafluoride (UF6), uranium dioxide (UO2), and uranium metal.
  • Isfahan also has laboratories, a Fuel Fabrication Plant, and a few small research reactors utilised for research and production of isotopes.

Tehran Research Reactor (TRR)

• Location: Tehran
• Purpose: Research and medical isotope production
• Significance
  • A small reactor built with U.S. assistance in the 1960s, mainly used for producing medical radioisotopes.
  • This small research reactor is situated at the headquarters of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) and was supplied by the US in 1967.
  • It’s mostly utilised for medical isotope production and research.

Saghand and Gchine Mines

• Saghand and Gchine Mines are uranium mines in Iran which supply the raw material for its nuclear program.

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