Russia's Rosatom begins main phase of evacuating staff from

MOSCOW, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom has begun the main phase of evacuating staff from the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev said Saturday.

A total of 198 Rosatom employees are being transported by bus toward the Iranian-Armenian border, Likhachev said.

"We very much hope that within two to three days our colleagues will safely cross nearly the entire territory of Iran and return home to our country," he said.

Likhachev added that the Iranian side is doing a great deal to ensure the safety of the Rosatom staff evacuation route, and cooperation with the Armenian government is proceeding smoothly.

The Russian nuclear specialists will leave the region from Yerevan airport, he said.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran reported earlier that a projectile had hit an area near the Bushehr nuclear power plant, killing one security worker and marking the fourth such attack since the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran began on Feb. 28.

The Bushehr nuclear power plant, located about 17 km southeast of the city of Bushehr and under the cooperation with Russia, began supplying electricity in September 2011. In November 2014, Iran and Russia signed a cooperation agreement to add two reactors to the plant.