GCC Concerns for Nuclear Safety at Iran's Bushehr plant, risk of radiation spreading over the Persian Gulf.

GCC Concerns for Nuclear Safety at Iran's Bushehr plant, risk of radiation spreading over the Persian Gulf.(UOI).

National emergency officials of the GCC countries, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, met on Sunday in Saudi Arabia to discuss the risk of radiation spreading over the Persian Gulf if Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant is damaged by another earthquake. A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck close to the nuclear plant last week, but caused no damages. Iranian officials have said that the plant could withstand quakes of up to 8.0 magnitude.

The plant built on earthquake-prone Iran's southern coast is a growing worry for its neighbors, because the prevailing winds of the Gulf mean that if radiation ever does escape it would probably be blown over Qatar and the UAE.

“The earthquake that the Iranian city of Bushehr was subject to has raised a great deal of concern among GCC countries and the international community of a possible damage to the Bushehr nuclear reactor that could causing a radioactive leak, God forbid,” said GCC Secretary-General Abdulatif al-Zayani. (Reuters, 14 April)

“The GCC countries have previously warned against the danger of the nuclear reactor of Bushehr and the possible nuclear leak and its harmful effect on the environment in the Gulf,” Zayani added.

Iran sits on major fault lines and has suffered several devastating earthquakes, including a 6.6-magnitude quake in 2003 which flattened the southeastern city of Bam and killed more than 25,000 people.Read the full story here.