The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says a protective shield built around the Chernobyl disaster site in Ukraine is no longer able to contain radioactive waste after a drone attack earlier this year.
Chernobyl’s New Security Confinement Facility (NSC), which was “severely damaged” in a drone attack in February, “has lost its key safety features, including its containment capabilities,” the IAEA said in a statement on Friday.
Ukraine has accused Russia of carrying out the Feb. 14 Chernobyl attack, a charge the Kremlin denied.
The IAEA said the attack hit the NSC, causing a fire and damaging the surrounding protective covering.
Nearly 40 years after the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history, the nuclear power watchdog has recommended major renovations to the huge steel structure installed several years ago to allow clean-up operations and ensure the site is safe.
“Although limited emergency repairs have been made to the roof, timely and comprehensive repairs remain essential to prevent further deterioration and ensure long-term nuclear safety,” said IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
Grossi added that there was no permanent damage to the NSC’s load-bearing structures or surveillance systems.
Grossi said the IAEA’s presence on the ground “remains fully committed to supporting efforts to fully restore nuclear safety and security.”
This is not the first time Chernobyl has been in the spotlight over the course of Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine. Russian forces took control of the nuclear power plant and the surrounding area early in Moscow’s all-out invasion, and in February 2022 they took control of the plant and took its staff hostage. They left the factory and handed control over to Ukrainian employees just over a month later.
The NSC is a huge arch-shaped steel structure built on the Chernobyl site to cover the abandoned reactor No. 4 and contain radioactive material.
The world’s largest mobile land structure, this massive hangar is a monumental feat of engineering. Built in 2010 and completed in 2019, the bridge was designed to last 100 years and has played an important role in ensuring the safety of the site.
The project cost €2.1 billion, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and was financed by contributions from more than 45 donor countries and organizations through the Chernobyl Shelter Fund, which in 2019 hailed it as “the largest international cooperation in the field of nuclear safety in history.”
On April 26, 1986, an explosion destroyed reactor No. 4 at Chernobyl, then part of the Soviet Union, and radioactivity spread across a wide area, including Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia.
More than 30 people died in the nearby Ukrainian city of Pripyat, and many continue to suffer symptoms from radiation exposure, according to the IAEA and the World Health Organization. Birth defects and cancer rates remain high in people living in areas exposed to radiation.
