If Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility were damaged or destroyed in a strike by the US, it would likely lead to a limited radiation leak in the immediate area, but it would not pose the same catastrophic consequences as bombing a nuclear reactor, experts told CNN.

Kelsey Davenport, the Director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association, said that if bombs were able to penetrate Fordow, it would likely lead to “some limited radiation from the uranium enriched and stored at the facility,” but “it’s unlikely to cause significant, widespread environmental health contamination.”

She explained that attacking a site where uranium hexafluoride gas — the material fed into the facility’s centrifuges — is stored “is going to create chemical toxicities” and “low level alpha radiation,” which would likely be localized to the site.

Davenport said that it would likely be “manageable if people are wearing the right protective equipment.”

Behnam Ben Taleblu, the Iran program senior director and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), also described the potential damage as being a chemical hazard.

“There isn’t a major radiation dispersal risk at Fordow because that enriched uranium is fresh,” explained Scott Roecker, the Vice President for Nuclear Materials Security at NTI.

“It’d be localized around the site, and because it’s buried underground too, I don’t know you know how much of that would even be released,” he said.

“Bombing a reactor is a whole different ball game,” Davenport explained.

Davenport said she believes it’s “extremely unlikely” Israel would bomb a nuclear reactor — a move that “would be a clear violation of international law.”

“You risk a reactor meltdown, widespread radiation and environmental contamination, devastating to the region,” she said.