The Ukrainian Emergency Service released this photo of damage to the Chernobyl NSC containment vessel in February. Photo: Handout - Ukrainian Emergency Service via AFP
A protective shield at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in war-torn Ukraine, built to contain radioactive material from the 1986 disaster, can no longer perform its main safety function, due to drone damage, the United Nations nuclear watchdog says, - a strike Ukraine has attributed to Russia.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said an inspection last week of the steel confinement structure, which was completed in 2019, found the February drone impact, three years into Russia's conflict in Ukraine, had degraded the structure.
IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said the inspection "confirmed that the [protective structure] had lost its primary safety functions, including the confinement capability, but also found there was no permanent damage to its load-bearing structures or monitoring systems".
Grossi said repairs had already been carried out, "but comprehensive restoration remains essential to prevent further degradation and ensure long-term nuclear safety".
On 14 February, the UN reported that Ukrainian authorities said a drone with a high explosive warhead struck the plant, caused a fire and damaged the protective cladding around reactor Number Four, which was destroyed in the 1986 disaster.
Ukrainian authorities said the drone was Russian, but Moscow denied it had attacked the plant.
Radiation levels remained normal and stable, and there were no reports of radiation leaks, the UN said in February.
The 1986 Chernobyl explosion sent radiation across Europe,
Russia occupied the plant and the surrounding area for more than a month in the first weeks of its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, as its forces initially tried to advance on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
The IAEA conducted the inspection at the same time as a countrywide survey of damage to electricity substations by the nearly four-year war between Ukraine and Russia.
- Reuters