Friday, February 14th, 2025
Staff at the International Atomic Energy Agency at the Chernobyl Site reported that the drone had hit the roof of a shelter built on top of the remains of a nuclear reactor that was destroyed in the 1986 accident, and “the internal and external radiation levels were It remains normal and stable.”
Posting on social media site X, the IAEA said the site’s team heard the explosion around 1:50 local time from the new Safe Confinement (NSC) shelter. of structure.
They said the damage was caused by the drone and said, “The fire safety personnel and the vehicle responded within minutes. At this time, there are no signs of violation of the NSC’s internal containment. The internal and external radiation levels are normal. As it remains, no stable casualties have been reported.
IAEA Director Rafael Mariano Grossi said the incident in Chernobyl and recent military operations in the nuclear power plant area of Zaporisia “have no room for complacentness and the IAEA remains high on alert.”
Two shelters covering the accident scene
Unit 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was destroyed in an accident in April 1986 (you can read more in the Chernobyl Accident Information Paper of the World Nuclear Association). Continue to work in the factory. It still contains the reactor’s melt core and an estimated 200 tonnes of highly radioactive material.
However, it was not designed for a very long time, so it is the new safer, the largest mobile land-based structure ever built to cover a much larger area including the original shelter. Confinement was built. The new safe confinement is designed for approximately 100 years of life, with a span weighing 257 meters, 162 meters long and 108 meters high, totaling 36,000 tons. It was built near two halves, moved by a specially constructed railway track in its current location, completed in 2019.
The original shelter is now in a new safe confinement (File Image, Image: EBRD)
Around the main steel structure there are two layers of interior and exterior cladding around the inner steel structure about 12 meters apart, referring to the inner section that the internal containment that is considered to be not violated. Masu. The NSC was designed to allow for the final demolition of aging temporary shelters from 1986 and the management of radioactive waste. It is also designed to withstand temperatures in the range of earthquakes ranging from -43°C to +45°C, three class tornadoes and six sizes on the Richter scale.
According to the World Nuclear Association, new, sealed, safe confinement will allow engineers to remotely dismantle the 1986 structure, which protected reactor artefacts from the weather several weeks after the accident. The final removal of the reactor contains the material at the bottom, and its properties are compatible with packaging for packaging.
What do you know about damage to the shelter?
According to operators at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station (CHNPP) site, the new arched safe containment was hit at a height of 87 meters, and “it will affect the facility’s residential technical equipment that ensures remote control of confinement. As a result, the exterior and interior cladding of the NSC arch were damaged, and there was also a device from the main crane system, and local fires were detected on the exterior and interior cladding of the NSC arch.
Damage to the outside (Image: IAEA/X)
Damage from inside (Image: CHNPP)
Damage inspected during sunlight (Image: CHNPP)
Firefighters put out the fire, and CHNPP said “Clad’s violations violate the conditions and limitations of safe operation established by the technical operational regulations of NSC and shelter objects.”
They added that “the situation is under control” without any casualties or release of radioactive material with radiation levels at normal levels.
Wideer context
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is located about 130 kilometers north of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, and about 20 kilometers south of Belarus. Some areas are gradually resettling, but a 30-kilometer exclusion zone remains around the plants. Three other reactors at the site built during the Soviet era remained operational after the accident, with the last unit operating until December 2000.
When Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it quickly ruled the Chernobyl plant. The force remained there until it retreated on March 31, 2022, and Control returned to Ukrainian officials. The IAEA requires experts to be stationed at the site during the war, ensuring the safety and security of the site.
The IAEA team has been under the control of three operating nuclear power plants in Ukraine and Russian military since early March 2022.
Ukraine denounced Russia for its drone strike, but Russia denied it taking responsibility and denounced Ukraine. The IAEA is not responsible for either side during the war. Director Grossi explained at a UN press conference last April that this is especially true in the case of drones, saying, “We are not commentators. We are not political. Speculators or analysts, we are To say such things, you must have proof that the remains of ammunition or other weapons are coming, in this case it is simply impossible.”
