On old wounds: a drone crashed into the protective dome of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

On Friday, February 14, it became known that a drone hit the sarcophagus above the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The incident was witnessed by representatives of the IAEA, who were near the nuclear power plant at the time. Read more about what happened, as well as the history of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant - in the material "Izvestia".

Drone strike on the dome of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant: what happened

On the night of Thursday to Friday, February 14, in the protective dome, called "Sarcophagus", and closing the fourth power unit of the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear power plant, hit a drone. The incident started a fire, which was extinguished on Friday afternoon. Information about the incident was published on the page of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in social network X.

"On the night of February 14, at about 01:50 (0:50 Moscow time - note), the IAEA team, which was at the Chernobyl site, heard an explosion, which resulted in a fire. It is known that the drone crashed into the roof," the message reads.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (his term expired on May 20, 2024) was quick to say that Russia was allegedly to blame for the incident.

The Kremlin immediately reacted to Zelensky's statements. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, strikes on nuclear infrastructure are out of the question.

"Any claims that this was the case - they do not correspond to reality. The Russian military is not doing this. Most likely, this is just another provocation," he said at a briefing. Peskov added that the Kiev regime likes such provocations and does not bend to engage in them.

Recall, the protective dome was built over the fourth unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant immediately after the accident in 1986, it is needed to prevent radiation leakage and ensure the safety of the surrounding area.

Reaction to the Chernobyl accident

Experts agree that everything that happened is a provocation by Kiev. For example, Russian war correspondent Yuri Kotenok called the situation too "showy" in his Telegram channel.

"A very convenient [situation] to block the real infoprovocation with the strike on the convoy with IAEA experts, which was carried out by the AFU on February 12," he writes.

Footage of AFU attack on IAEA convoy during rotation from ZNPP is published

There are also reports that the strike on the dome of the Chernobyl NPP was carried out specifically to cancel the meeting in Munich, which is scheduled for today, February 14. This opinion was expressed by the former Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Oleg Tsaryov.

"Just on the first day of the new contact group on the settlement of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine another provocation was committed. The purpose is clear - to disrupt the negotiation process and pretend that Ukraine has reasons not to start negotiations", - he wrote.

Millionaire blogger Yuri Podolyaka also expressed his opinion, calling what happened a provocation.

"Of course, Russia has no resonance to hit the sarcophagus of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Especially now. But the rat-Zelensky needs to urgently think of something to disrupt what is already ... predestined by Putin and Trump," he wrote in his Telegram-channel.

Chernobyl nuclear power plant: what is known, the accident in 1986

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is one of the largest and most famous disasters in the entire existence of nuclear power. On the night of April 25-26, 1986, an explosion occurred at the fourth power unit, as a result of which a fire started, the reactor core was completely destroyed, and a huge amount of radioactive substances was released into the environment. All this resulted in many deaths, ranging from liquidators of the accident and plant workers to civilians living near the epicenter of the accident, the city of Pripyat.

The toxic cloud formed during the combustion process spread many radioactive materials, including iodine and cesium radionuclides, across the European part of the continent. The ecosystems of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine were the worst affected. A 30-kilometer exclusion zone with a special permit regime was defined around the site of the disaster, as this place was subjected to the most intensive contamination with radionuclides.

To prevent the further spread of hazardous substances, the Shelter facility, which became known informally as the Sarcophagus, was constructed in record time between May and November 1986. Its main purpose was to isolate the destroyed power unit from the environment to reduce the transfer of radioactive dust and aerosols.

It was predicted that the service life of the structure would be 20-40 years. In the following years, the structure was periodically reinforced, but given the high degree of risk in its destruction, in time it became necessary to build additional protection. Thus, the New Safe Confinement (NSC) appeared on top of the Shelter and auxiliary structures.

The construction of the new sarcophagus started in 2007, but due to insufficient funding, the timeframe for the facility's readiness shifted from 2012-2013 to May 2018. The NSC was finally commissioned on July 10, 2019. This steel arch has become the largest movable ground structure in the world.

The characteristics of the NBK are:

- width - 260 meters;
- height - 110 meters;
- length - 165 meters;
- weight of structures - 36.2 thousand tons;
- number of workers - about 3000 people;
- operating time - 70-100 years;
- project cost - 2.15 billion euros.

Some scientists are skeptical about the safety of the new shelter. It is claimed that the construction is not capable of preventing the leakage of radioactive emissions into the atmosphere due to technical reasons. According to experts, only a containment can cope with this task.