Three months after a Russian drone attack, significant damage to the protective structure covering the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine has been revealed, raising concerns about the site’s long-term safety.
Footage of a large, 15-square-meter crater in the steel shell of the New Safe Confinement (NSC) was shown on Wednesday, May 14, during the general assembly of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London. The explosion was caused by a Russian drone strike on February 14, captured by surveillance cameras.
France has pledged €10 million to fund urgent repairs to the NSC, as rainwater seeps into the structure. “There are risks of further damage if we don’t do some emergency repairs,” warned Olga Zykova, Ukraine’s deputy minister of finance.
The attack damaged the NSC, a massive structure completed in 2017 at a cost of €2.1 billion to cover reactor number 4, which exploded in 1986. The NSC was designed to provide a century of nuclear safety, allowing for the eventual dismantling of the reactor. The drone pierced the steel shell of the arch and ignited the membrane underneath, causing a fire that burned over 200 square meters. Firefighters were forced to drill over 200 holes in the steel to extinguish the blaze
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