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BRUSSELS — Russia called on NATO on Wednesday to launch an
investigation into the computer worm that targeted a Russian-built
Iranian nuclear power plant, saying the incident could have triggered a
new Chernobyl.

Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said the
Stuxnet virus caused centrifuges producing enriched uranium at the
Bushehr plant to spin out of control, which could have sparked a new
"Chernobyl tragedy," the 1986 nuclear meltdown in Ukraine.

"The
operators saw on their screens that the centrifuges were working
normally when in fact they were out of control," Rogozin told reporters
after a regular meeting with ambassadors from the 28-nation Western
alliance.

"NATO should get down to investigating this matter," he
said, adding that he was interested to know if the German firm which
built the centrifuges, Siemens, was probing the matter.

Russia is helping Iran build a nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr for civilian use.

Iran's
envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency said last week that the
Stuxnet attack did not affect the country's nuclear programme,
including Bushehr.

"I don't think there will be problems in that
area. The Bushehr nuclear power plant will be operational and there will
not be a second Chernobyl," ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh said d... >>>