The Chernobyl sarcophagus at risk of "catastrophic collapse" due to a Russian drone

MoscowFebruary 14, 2025. A Russian drone loaded with explosives crashes against the structure protecting the old sarcophagus of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The fire burns for three weeks, damaging the walls of the new construction and forcing its repair as it is no longer capable of containing radiation. However, a year later, on the eve of the fortieth anniversary of the worst atomic disaster in history, maintenance is stalled. Russian attacks on Ukraine are hindering the work of engineers, and environmental organizations like Greenpeace have just warned that, if nothing is done, there is a risk that the sarcophagus will "collapse" and cause a "catastrophic" radioactive leak, which "knows no borders."

The dismantling of the containment arch of the old reactor, hastily installed in the wake of the tragedy in 1986, has been a priority since the new reinforced sarcophagus was erected in 2019. However, first COVID and then the Russian invasion prevented it. The Kremlin's army occupied the plant for about five weeks at the beginning of the war, but Ukrainian troops regained control. Since then, Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly denounced Russian attacks against the plant, the most serious of which pierced the dome and set it on fire.

The fear of specialists is that if a drone or missile now falls near the plant, the 1986 cover could collapse and the four tons of highly radioactive dust deposited among the reactor core debris could spread. “New Russian bombings, combined with delays in dismantling unstable parts of the inner sarcophagus, imply an increased risk of collapse,” Shaun Burnie, a Greenpeace nuclear expert in Ukraine, explains to ARA. According to him, repairs to the outer structure are “necessary” before dismantling the unstable parts of the old protective shield. 

The works, valued at approximately 500 million euros, should extend until 2030, but Burnie warns that, under current conditions, it will be "practically impossible" for them to begin. He assures that it is unfeasible to work at hundreds of meters of altitude while Russian drones fly daily over the exclusion zone. Furthermore, he warns of the complications of operating in radioactive environments. "The radiation levels in some areas are so high that a person can reach the maximum annual permissible exposure level in 12 or 24 hours and then can no longer work there," he states. And he asks: "How many hundreds or thousands of workers will be willing to do so in wartime?"

Zaporizhzhia, the latent threat

The Russian invasion of Ukraine also puts at risk Europe's largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia. Occupied by Russian troops since March 2022 and a key piece in peace negotiations, it is in a cold shutdown state, meaning the reactors are turned off and stabilized at low temperature to prevent nuclear fuel from overheating and causing an accident. “There is no good news from Zaporizhzhia, but this is the least bad,” notes the Greenpeace expert. However, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, warns that “as long as this devastating conflict continues, nuclear safety will remain under serious threat.”

One of the main problems at the plant is that it has lost electricity fourteen times since the start of the conflict, most recently last week. This forces the activation of emergency diesel generators designed to be the facility's “last line of defense,” according to the IAEA, and which are now being used “too often.” In February, both sides agreed to a local ceasefire to repair the high-voltage line, and the international body is now pressuring both parties for it to be repeated.

Russia, however, accuses Ukraine of constant attacks on the plant which they claim have intensified over the last month. The Russian Foreign Ministry announces that it will respond and attributes this to Zelensky's desire to divert attention from the war in the Middle East back to Ukraine. Greenpeace, designated as an "undesirable" organization by the Russian justice system, denounces to ARA that these claims are false and that Kyiv has never bombed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. "These are all Russian false flag operations," states Burnie, who criticizes the IAEA for "repeating and amplifying" Moscow's narrative.

The expert laments that nuclear power plants are "previously deployed" nuclear weapons that become "an easy target" in a future confrontation. "They were never designed for war conditions," he explains. And he concludes: "Forty years later, Ukraine is still fighting the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, and the Russian government is threatening another Chernobyl, or worse still, by attacking the country's three atomic power plants and illegally occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant."