Chornobyl NPP shelter may not withstand second Russian strike – director

The shelter over the destroyed reactor at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant was damaged in a Russian attack earlier this year and may not withstand a second strike.

Chornobyl NPP Director Serhii Tarakanov said this in an interview with AFP, Ukrinform reports.

Tarakanov said that fully restoring that shelter could take three to four years and warned that another Russian hit could see the inner shell collapse.

"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 severely damaged in 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 said.

At the same time, he told AFP that radiation levels at the site remained "stable and within normal limits."

The hole caused by the drone hit has been covered with a protective screen, he said, but 300 smaller holes made by firefighters when battling the blaze still need to be filled in.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly reported Russian strikes on the Chornobyl NPP. In particular, an attack earlier this year pierced a hole in the outer protective shell, the New Safe Confinement (NSC), as a result of which the facility "lost its key safety functions," according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

A delegation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development earlier visited the Chornobyl exclusion 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.