Chernobyl shelter may not withstand second Russian strike, plant director says
The shelter over the destroyed reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) was damaged during a Russian attack earlier this year and may not survive a second strike.
According to Ukrinform, this was stated in an interview with AFP by ChNPP Director Serhii Tarakanov.
He said that full restoration of the shelter could take three to four years and warned that another Russian strike could destroy the internal containment.
“If a missile or drone hits it directly, or even falls somewhere nearby, for example, an Iskander, God forbid, it will cause a mini-earthquake in the area,” Tarakanov said. “No one can guarantee that the shelter facility will remain standing after that. That is the main threat,” he added.
The roof of the New Safe Confinement (NSC) was seriously damaged by a Russian drone strike in February, which caused a major fire in the outer cladding of the steel structure.
“Our NSC has lost several of its main functions. And we understand that it will take us at least three or four years to restore these functions,” Tarakanov added.
At the same time, he told AFP that radiation levels at the facility remain “stable and within normal limits.”
According to him, the hole caused by the drone impact has been covered with a protective screen, but 300 smaller holes made by firefighters while extinguishing the fire still need to be filled in.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly reported Russian strikes on the Chernobyl NPP. In particular, the strike earlier this year pierced the external protective shell of the New Safe Confinement (NSC), causing the facility to “lose its primary safety functions,” according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
It was also reported that a delegation from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development visited the Chernobyl zone, where, together with representatives of Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy and the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management, they discussed nuclear safety in the area.
Photo: picture alliance/dpa/EBRD Photostream