The drone damage at Chornobyl (left) and IAEA boss Rafael Grossi. Photos: IAEA
Ukrainian firefighters are in full control of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant after a drone strike last month caused extensive damage.
The large confinement structure covering the No. 4 reactor destroyed in the 1986 accident, the New Safe Confinement (NSC), had a hole blown in its roof on February 14 and set off fires.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Ukrainian crews, up to 400, managed to extinguish all smouldering with no new fires detected for about 10 days.
Last Friday the site’s status was downgraded from “emergency” to “controlled situation”.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency paid tribute to the work of the Ukrainian crews “who worked very hard for several weeks in challenging circumstances, at times in freezing weather conditions”.
“Their admirable efforts have been rewarded, and the emergency situation is now under control, which is very good news,” he says.
“Nevertheless, I remain extremely concerned about the drone strike that took place a month ago. It posed a serious threat to nuclear safety and badly damaged the site’s New Safe Confinement,” Grossi says.
“The challenging task ahead is to repair the structure and restore its confinement functionality. Attacking nuclear facilities is completely unacceptable.”
IAEA staff at the Chornobyl site also reported multiple air raid alarms over the past week as the fires were extinguished.
Drone flights in the area were reported on March 8 while IAEA workers at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) heard explosions on most days at different distances from the site.
Extra monitoring over the past several weeks at the Chornobyl site, and double-checked, shows no increase in radiation at the site, the IAEA says.
WHAT IS THE NSC?
This arch-shaped structure has multiple purposes: to protect the environment from any potential release of radioactive material, to protect the old shelter beneath it from the elements and to facilitate dismantling activities.
The drone strike caused fires and smouldering which caused extensive damage, including to the northern side and southern sides of its roof.
The NSC will require extensive repairs, according to the IAEA.
Ukranian soldiers lead an IAEA team to a Russian checkpoint near the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in September 2024. Photo: IAEA
CEASEFIRE
Russia has reportedly agreed to a 30-day limited ceasefire against energy and infrastructure targets.
The deal was announced by the Russian and American leaders with seemingly no input from Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Russian leader Vladimir Putin of prolonging the war and says Russia must not keep any land it has seized.
Russia currently controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory.
Russia, in turn, wants Ukraine barred from joining NATO, to keep the lands they have seized, for western sanctions to lift and possible ownership of the ZNPP.
