Chornobyl protective structure could collapse following Russian strikes, plant director warns
The protective shield built above the former Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant could collapse following a Russian strike earlier this year, plant director Serhii Tarakanov told AFP in an interview published Dec. 23.
"No one can guarantee that the shelter facility will remain standing after that. That is the main threat," Tarakanov warned.
The fourth reactor at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant had a meltdown in April 1986, prompting the site's confinement and closure.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Dec. 5 that the protective shield built to prevent radiation leaking needs to be repaired promptly after a Russian drone strike earlier this year damaged the steel structure, leaving a large hole and many smaller ones following a fire.
It could take three to four years for the containment structure to be fully restored, Tarakanov said, adding that if another strike hits the site before repairs are completed, an inner containment shell could collapse.
The inner sarcophagus was hastily built after the 1986 reactor explosion in an effort to contain the meltdown.
"If a missile or drone hits it directly, or even falls somewhere nearby, for example, an Iskander (missile), God forbid, it will cause a mini-earthquake in the area," he said.
The containment structure was first installed in 2019 around the destroyed reactor at the plant.
In April, then-Environment Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk warned that the sarcophagus had partially lost its functionality and needed to be repaired to prevent leaks following the Russian strike.
The plant is located about 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Kyiv and just 15 kilometers (9 miles) from Ukraine's border with Belarus. The site was briefly occupied by Russian troops in the early days of the full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
