A protective shield built around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine can no longer fulfill its function of containing radioactive waste following a drone strike earlier this year, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The New Safe Confinement (NSC) at Chernobyl, which was “severely damaged” by a drone strike in February, “has lost its essential safety functions, including containment capabilities,” the IAEA said in a statement on Friday.
Ukraine accused Russia of striking Chernobyl on February 14, but the Kremlin denied this.
According to the IAEA, the strike hit the NSC, causing a fire and damaging the protective shell around it.
The nuclear safety authority has recommended a major overhaul of the massive steel structure, which was built several years ago, to allow cleanup work to proceed and ensure the safety of the site nearly four decades after the worst nuclear power plant accident in history.
“Limited temporary repairs have been made to the roof, but timely and comprehensive restoration remains essential to prevent further degradation and ensure long-term nuclear safety,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
Grossi added that no permanent damage was caused to the NSC's supporting structures or monitoring systems.
The IAEA, which has a permanent presence at the site, “will continue to do everything possible to support efforts to fully restore nuclear safety,” Grossi said.
This is not the first time Chernobyl has been in the spotlight during Russia's nearly four-year war in Ukraine. Russian forces captured a nuclear power plant and surrounding areas in the early days of Moscow's full-scale invasion, seizing the plant in February 2022 and holding the staff hostage. They left the plant and returned control to Ukrainian personnel a little over a month later.
The NSC is a massive, arch-shaped steel structure built at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant to cover the destroyed No. 4 reactor and contain its radioactive materials.
The colossal hangar, the world's largest mobile above-ground structure, is a monumental feat of engineering. Built in 2010 and completed in 2019, it was designed to last 100 years and played a critical role in ensuring the safety of the site.
The project cost 2.1 billion euros and was financed by contributions from more than 45 donor countries and organizations through the Chernobyl Shelter Fund, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which in 2019 called the undertaking “the largest international cooperation on nuclear safety.”
On April 26, 1986, an explosion occurred at reactor No. 4 at Chernobyl, in what was then the Soviet Union, spreading radioactivity throughout Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and beyond.
More than 30 people have died in the nearby city of Pripyat, Ukraine, with many more suffering from symptoms caused by radiation exposure, as the IAEA and World Health Organization. Birth defects and cancer incidence among residents of the area exposed to radiation are still high.
