Ukraine to restore Chornobyl NPP sarcophagus after Russian strike: Timeline announced
Photo: Russia struck the Chornobyl sarcophagus (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine will undertake the restoration of a new protective shell over the fourth reactor of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The repair work is expected to continue until the end of 2026, this was stated in a comment to DW by Serhii Kondratenko, Deputy Technical Director for Infrastructure at the Chornobyl NPP State Specialized Enterprise.
He noted that Ukraine and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have signed a grant agreement under which international partners will finance the repair of the New Safe Confinement (sarcophagus) Arch over the Chornobyl NPP after it was damaged by a drone in February 2025.
Under the agreement, the EBRD engaged experts from the French companies Bouygues Travaux Publics and VINCI Construction Grands Projets to study the technical condition of the structures and technological systems. These companies are members of the Novarka consortium, which designed and built the sarcophagus.
"Their task is to assess options for restoring the design functionality, including modifications taking financial costs into account. In other words, to determine which option can be chosen so that the Arch reaches an acceptable level of safety," Kondratenko said.
According to him, as a result of the fire following the Russian attack, the waterproofing burned, and the membrane that ensured the tightness of the Arch’s outer shell was damaged. In addition, to extinguish the fire, rescuers made 130 openings in the outer shell of the sarcophagus, with a total area of about 130 square meters.
Chornobyl sarcophagus has lost its functions
On December 5, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published the results of a comprehensive assessment of the Chornobyl sarcophagus, which was damaged in February this year due to a Russian drone attack.
The IAEA’s inspection found that the sarcophagus has lost its primary safety functions.
At the same time, the supporting structures of the Arch "did not sustain permanent damage."
