Ukrainian firefighters have gained full control over the situation at the Chornobyl site following last month's drone strike that caused extensive damage to the large confinement structure covering the reactor destroyed in the 1986 accident, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.
The drone attack in the early hours of 14 February pierced a big hole through the roof of the New Safe Confinement (NSC) and set off fires within its structure that continued to smoulder for more than two weeks.
Working around the clock to contain the aftermath of the drone strike, Ukrainian emergency personnel have gradually managed to extinguish all the smouldering, with no new fires detected for around ten days. Last Friday the site was able to downgrade the event from an "emergency" to a "controlled situation".
From the time of the drone strike, the IAEA team based at the site has had unrestricted access to observe and assess the status of the NSC.
This arch-shaped structure has multiple functions: to protect the environment from any potential release of radioactive material into the atmosphere, to prevent any degradation of the old shelter structure beneath it from external factors and to facilitate dismantling activities.
As a result of the drone strike, however, the confinement function of the NSC has been compromised. The fires and smouldering resulted in extensive damage, including to the northern side and to a lesser extent to the southern side of its roof, according to an initial site evaluation shared with the IAEA team based at the site. The NSC will require extensive repair efforts.
The Chornobyl site has continued to perform additional radiation monitoring over the past several weeks, reporting the results to the IAEA team, which has also carried out its own independent monitoring. To date, all radiation monitoring results have shown that there has not been any increase in radiation at the site.
"The Ukrainian emergency services have worked very hard for several weeks in challenging circumstances, at times in freezing weather conditions. Their admirable efforts have been rewarded and the emergency situation is now under control, which is very good news," Director General Grossi said.
"Nevertheless, I remain extremely concerned about the drone strike that took place a month ago. It posed a serious threat to nuclear safety and badly damaged the site's New Safe Confinement, which was built at a huge expense for the international community. The challenging task ahead is to repair the structure and restore its confinement functionality. Attacking nuclear facilities is completely unacceptable," he said.
Further underlining constant nuclear safety risks during the conflict, the IAEA staff at the Chornobyl site have continued to report multiple air raid alarms over the past week.
In addition, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) informed the IAEA that the Chornobyl site recorded drone flights in the area during the night of 8 March.
The precarious nuclear safety and security situation was also evident at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), with the IAEA team there hearing explosions on most days at different distances from the site.
The team continued to monitor nuclear safety and security, including the site's ongoing maintenance activities. At the 750 kilovolt (kV) open switchyard, maintenance began in February on a circuit breaker for one of the site's three 750 kV power lines that have remained disconnected due to the conflict. This week, maintenance commenced on the main transformer of reactor unit 5 and on the circuit breaker linking it to the open switchyard.
During a site walkdown, the IAEA experts measured the water levels at the plant's 12 sprinkler ponds, confirming they hold sufficient water to cool the six reactors in their current shutdown status.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, the IAEA teams based at the country's three operating nuclear power plants (NPPs) - Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine - have continued to monitor the nuclear safety and security situation at these sites. The teams report hearing air raid alarms on most days.
Over the past week, the IAEA has carried out rotations at the Rivne, South Ukraine and Chornobyl sites, with new Agency teams replacing colleagues based there for the past several weeks.
Separately, the IAEA has continued with its comprehensive programme of nuclear safety and security assistance to Ukraine, with two new deliveries of equipment bringing the total number since the start of the armed conflict to 113. The South Ukraine NPP received spare parts for an industrial automation system as well as telecommunication testing equipment, while the medical unit at Chornobyl received medical supplies. The deliveries were supported with funds from Ireland, France and Sweden.
