Protective Dome Over Chernobyl Reactor Partially Lost Functionality After Russian Drone Strike

Ukraine is working to assess and restore damage to the protective containment structure over the destroyed Chornobyl nuclear reactor following a Russian drone strike earlier this year, Environment Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said, according to Reuters on April 13.

The announcement came during the inauguration of a new 0.8 MW solar power plant built on the site of the decommissioned Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant—an event held ahead of two upcoming international conferences focused on Chornobyl and nuclear energy issues.

“Unfortunately, after the attack, the arch partially lost its functionality. I believe by May we will have the results of the analysis we are conducting,” Hrynchuk stated.

Ukraine is working with experts, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, research institutions, and the original contractors who installed the structure in 2019, to determine the best path forward for restoring the protective arch, which was designed to contain radiation from the remains of Reactor 4.

“We will have the first results in a few weeks,” Hrynchuk said. “We are actively working on it. Of course, we need to restore the arch to prevent any leakage under any circumstances, because ensuring nuclear and radiation safety is our top priority.”

Officials previously reported that the drone strike on February 14 left a significant hole in the outer shell of the containment structure, with an explosion occurring inside.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova dismissed the incident as a “provocation.”

The containment arch was built to cover the deteriorating sarcophagus hastily constructed after the 1986 reactor explosion, which resulted in a massive release of radioactive material across much of Europe and remains the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

The plant lies within the 30-kilometer exclusion zone surrounding Chornobyl—a radioactive no-man’s-land still marked by abandoned apartment buildings and a decaying amusement park.

During her remarks, Hrynchuk also highlighted the solar power plant as a milestone in Ukraine’s efforts to turn the exclusion zone into a hub for renewable energy.

“We’ve talked for years about transforming the exclusion zone into a zone of recovery,” she said. “And this territory, more than anywhere else in Ukraine, is ideal for developing renewable energy projects.”

Earlier, Oleksandr Titarchuk, the Chornobyl nuclear plant’s chief engineer, confirmed that there is now a possibility of radioactive leakage, following a Russian drone strike.

“There is now a possibility of radioactive leakage,” Titarchuk said at the time.

“No critical levels of radiation background have been detected at the sites. Situation is under control,” he concluded, assuring that monitoring efforts continue to maintain safety at the facility.

Earlier, Russian Major General Alexei Rtyshchev, Deputy Head of the Russian Army’s Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces  (RCBD), was formally charged in absentia for his role in the looting of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

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