The U.S. will allocate $100 million for the renovation of the Chernobyl Shelter
30 April 11:17
The U.S. State Department has announced its intention to allocate up to $100 million from existing foreign aid funds to support coordinated efforts by the G7 countries to ensure the continued containment of fissile nuclear materials at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, according to "Komersant Ukrainian", citing Interfax-Ukraine.
“For three decades, the United States and its G7 partners have led efforts to secure nuclear materials at the Chernobyl NPP, with the United States having allocated a total of over $365 million to fund the New Safe Confinement (NSC) arch, which protects the reactor’s core zones,” the State Department press release states.
It is noted that the NSC, built with a design life of 100 years, was damaged last year as a result of a strike by a Russian drone.
“Without repairs, the NSC can no longer provide adequate protection, posing a threat of a dangerous leak of highly radioactive materials in Europe,” the State Department added.
“In line with the U.S.’s longstanding leadership on nuclear safety and nonproliferation, in cooperation with Congress… we are proactively allocating 20%, or $100 million, of the total $500 million cost estimated by the G7, to restore the Chernobyl Shelter and ensure the continued safety and security of the Chernobyl reactors and nuclear materials,” the State Department stated.
The U.S. State Department called on G7 and European partners to follow the United States’ example and make “substantial financial commitments to share the burden of these necessary repairs.”
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Damage from a UAV attack
Last February, a drone struck the steel and concrete structure above the reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Kyiv blamed Russia, while Moscow rejected the accusations. According to Ukraine, the attack damaged the containment structure.
Although there was no radiation leak, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stated after an inspection that the structure can no longer fully perform its primary safety functions.
40 Years Since the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident
The worst accident in the history of nuclear power occurred on the night of April 25–26, 1986: the fourth reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded. The Soviet authorities initially tried to conceal the scale of the disaster. Significant areas of present-day Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, as well as some European countries, were affected by radiation. A 30-kilometer exclusion zone was established around the nuclear power plant, from which the entire population—over 115,000 people—was evacuated.
About 550,000 people took part in the cleanup of this unprecedented man-made disaster, which sparked deep mistrust of peaceful nuclear energy. From 1986 to 2002, not a single new nuclear power plant was built in North America or Western Europe.
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