Chernobyl nuclear plant’s shield damaged: UN agency

A protective shield built to contain radioactive material from the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in war-torn Ukraine can no longer perform its main safety function due to drone damage, the UN nuclear watchdog says.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said an inspection last week of the steel containment structure completed in 2019 found that the drone strike in February, the third year of Russia’s conflict in Ukraine, had damaged the structure.

IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said in a statement that it “confirmed that the mission (the protective structure) had lost its primary security functions, including its confinement capacity, but also found that there was no permanent damage to the load-bearing structures or monitoring systems.”

Repairs have already been carried out, Grossi said, but “comprehensive restoration remains necessary to prevent further deterioration and ensure long-term nuclear security.”

The UN reported that on February 14, Ukrainian officials said a drone with a high-explosive warhead crashed into the facility, causing a fire and damaging the protective coating around the Number Four reactor, which was destroyed in the 1986 disaster.

Ukrainian officials said the drone was Russian. Moscow denied attacking the facility.

The UN said in February that radiation levels remained normal and stable and there were no reports of radiation leaks.

The 1986 Chernobyl explosion spread radiation across Europe, prompting Soviet authorities to mobilize large numbers of men and equipment to deal with the accident. The last operating reactor of the facility was shut down in 2000.

In the first weeks of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia occupied the facility and its surroundings for more than a month as its forces initially tried to advance towards the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.

The IAEA conducted the inspection at the same time as an investigation into damage to electricity substations across the country due to the nearly four-year war between Ukraine and Russia.