Bombed Chornobyl shelter no longer blocks radiation and needs major repair – IAEA

Rescuers work on the ‘new safe confinement’ covering the remains of the destroyed reactor at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant site in February. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters

The protective shield over the Chornobyl disaster nuclear reactor in Ukraine, which was hit by a drone in February, can no longer perform its main function of blocking radiation, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has announced.

In February a drone strike blew a hole in the “new safe confinement”, which was painstakingly built at a cost of €1.5bn ($1.75bn) next to the destroyed reactor and then hauled into place on tracks, with the work completed in 2019 by a Europe-led initiative. The IAEA said an inspection last week of the steel confinement structure found the drone impact had degraded the structure.