Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Svitlana Hrynchuk showed the Shelter arch at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, recently damaged by a Russian drone, to the chief of the nuclear safety department at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The minister reported this on Facebook, Ukrinform saw.
“We are preparing to present to international partners our damage assessment and a plan for restoring the NSC (New Safe Confinement – ed.) arch at a meeting of the Assembly of Contributors of the International Cooperation Account for Chornobyl in June 2025,” the report says.
According to Hrynchuk, technical consultations are currently underway on the restoration of the arch over the destroyed power unit 4 at the Chornobyl NPP. This will require significant investments, so today the key task is to attract as many experts and donors as possible.
As part of these consultations, the Director of the EBRD Nuclear Safety Department, Balthasar Lindauer, visited the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, seeing with his own eyes the scale of the destruction at the facility.
The Minister noted that the EBRD supports the Ukrainian position: it is necessary to develop long-term plans, taking into account previous construction experience and modern challenges of wartime. Ukraine is open to cooperation and ready to provide partners and investors with all the necessary data.
The participants in the meeting also touched upon the topic of developing alternative energy in the exclusion zone. The area has exceptional potential for post-war recovery, which will require significant energy resources.
As reported, on the night of February 14, a Russian attack drone fitted with a high-explosive warhead hit a shelter above the destroyed power unit 4 of the Chornobyl NPP. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi confirmed that the Russian drone strike on the Chornobyl NPP confinement was a very serious incident, stating that nuclear safety in Ukraine remains massively jeopardized.
The arch of the Chernobyl NPP confinement, the construction of which lasted from 2012 to 2016, cost donors approximately EUR 1.5 billion. The arch covered an outdated shelter. The use of funds was controlled by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which also became one of the main donors.
First photo: State Agency for Nuclear Safety
Source: EBRD Nuclear Safety Department Director sees damaged Shelter arch at Chornobyl NPP
