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No Rise in Radiation Levels at Chernobyl, Despite Damage from February's Drone Strike (nytimes.com) 145

UPDATE (12/7): The New York Times clarifies today that the damage at Chernobyl hasn't led to a rise in radiation levels: "If there was to be some event inside the shelter that would release radioactive materials into the space inside the New Safe Confinement, because this facility is no longer sealed to the outside environment, there's the potential for radiation to come out," said Shaun Burnie, a senior nuclear specialist at Greenpeace who has monitored nuclear power plants in Ukraine since 2022 and last visited Chernobyl on October 31. "I have to say I don't think that's a particularly serious issue at the moment, because they're not actively decommissioning the actual sarcophagus."

The I.A.E.A. also said there was no permanent damage to the shield's load-bearing structures or monitoring systems. A spokesman for the agency, Fredrik Dahl, said in a text message on Sunday that radiation levels were similar to what they were before the drone hit.

But "A structure designed to prevent radioactive leakage at the defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine is no longer operational," Politico reported Saturday, "after Russian drones targeted it earlier this year, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog has found." [T]he large steel structure "lost its primary safety functions, including the confinement capability" when its outer cladding was set ablaze after being struck by Russian drones, according to a new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Beyond that, there was "no permanent damage to its load-bearing structures or monitoring systems," it said. "Limited temporary repairs have been carried out on the roof, but timely and comprehensive restoration remains essential to prevent further degradation and ensure long-term nuclear safety," IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in astatement.
The Guardian has pictures of the protective shield — incuding the damage from the drone strike. The shield is the world's largest movable land structure, reports CNN: The IAEA, which has a permanent presence at the site, will "continue to do everything it can to support efforts to fully restore nuclear safety and security," Grossi said.... Built in 2010 and completed in 2019, it was designed to last 100 years and has played a crucial role in securing the site.

The project cost €2.1 billion and was funded by contributions from more than 45 donor countries and organizations through the Chernobyl Shelter Fund, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which in 2019 hailed the venture as "the largest international collaboration ever in the field of nuclear safety."

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No Rise in Radiation Levels at Chernobyl, Despite Damage from February's Drone Strike

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  • by ArmoredDragon ( 3450605 ) on Saturday December 06, 2025 @03:44PM (#65839879)

    The project cost €2.1 billion and was funded by contributions from more than 45 donor countries and organizations through the Chernobyl Shelter Fund

    Take it out of Putin's ass.

  • Old News? (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    The UN reported on 14 February that Ukrainian authorities said a drone with a high explosive warhead struck the plant, caused a fire and damaged the protective cladding around the reactor. Ukrainian authorities said the drone was Russian. Moscow denied it had attacked the plant.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      The UN reported on 14 February that Ukrainian authorities said a drone with a high explosive warhead struck the plant, caused a fire and damaged the protective cladding around the reactor. Ukrainian authorities said the drone was Russian. Moscow denied it had attacked the plant.

      This would be one of those awkward occasions where a planet is taking in that response from Russia, with the full understanding of exactly which party has zero fucking reason to attack their own containment shield.

      Especially that one.

    • Re:Old News? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by dunkelfalke ( 91624 ) on Saturday December 06, 2025 @04:19PM (#65839949)

      Russian authorities always lie, even if telling the truth would have been beneficial to them. They can't help themselves.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Moscow denied it

      That confirms it then. Moscow definitely did it.

    • Chernobyl had actually fallen to the Russians in 2022, during the first days of the war. Did the Ukrainians take it back since?
      • by tragedy ( 27079 )

        Chernobyl had actually fallen to the Russians in 2022, during the first days of the war. Did the Ukrainians take it back since?

        Uh, yeah, the next month. This was nearly four years ago at this point. You might be a little behind on the news.

      • hahahah LOL WUT? Chernobyl is up near Kyiv. It was in the path of an initial onslaught that tried to move towards the capital and was basically instantly repelled back across the Belarus border. Not only was that region liberated by the Ukraine within days, the Russians completely abandoned all war activities up there within the month and there hasn't been any fighting or contention of land there since.

        The only thing happening anywhere near there is drone strikes and the occasional bombing.

    • Just checked the Ukraine wind-map. Winds generally toward the north-west. Thus Russian damage to the Chernobyl cladding threatens Western Europe with radiation fallout. Teach those Euros to support the Ukraine against Russian aggression. Mebby the French need to scatter 5-tons of their dirty reactor-waste over Moscow and see how Ivan fares. Oh wait ... better start with one of Russias Black Sea resorts filled with "party" members and mafia. No reason to casually mess-up some of the b
  • by TJHook3r ( 4699685 ) on Sunday December 07, 2025 @08:57AM (#65841033)
    Can't wait for Season 2 of Chernobyl!
  • In a way this is good news.
    Seriously.

    If Russia expected to win this conflict, it's unlikely even they are dumb enough to cause major nuclear leaks in territory they expect to hold.

    It's possible this is a clue that they DON'T expect to do so, and we've advanced to the "well if I can't have it nobody can" scorched earth stage, which is very Russian.

    • by znrt ( 2424692 )

      If Russia expected to win this conflict

      russia has already reached the point where attrition cascades. even the nyt admits this.

      at this point only a few countries in europe (actually just 3-4 that count: uk, france, germany and maybe poland) and a minority of ukranians (20% according to last gallup poll) want to continue the war, hoping to rescue the situation in the long run.

      their plan seems to be:
      1. ukraine:
      - fight to the last man (which will be soon) while being supported by ... europe (the us has bailed)
      2. europe:
      - steal russian assets to sup

      • russia has already reached the point where attrition cascades. even the nyt admits this.

        Russian attrition is indeed spiraling.
        https://en.zona.media/article/... [en.zona.media]

        at this point only a few countries in europe (actually just 3-4 that count: uk, france, germany and maybe poland) and a minority of ukranians (20% according to last gallup poll) want to continue the war, hoping to rescue the situation in the long run.

        With the exception of Putler very few wanted the war to start much less continue. Don't mistake wanting war to end for any Ukrainian willingness to acquiesce to absurd demands of Putler et el.

        1. ukraine:
        - fight to the last man (which will be soon) while being supported by ... europe (the us has bailed)

        This is nonsensical. Both sides are capable of suffering their respective rates of attrition forever. This war like nearly every war will not be settled by running out of men. It will be settled by running out of will.

        - steal russian assets to support ukraine for 2 more years, see from there. if they succeed, the money will last 6 months, it will wreck their financial industry for good (one of its few industries still standing) and when the trial comes they will have to pay the money back plus reparations.

        Forfeiture of Russian asse

    • by Tailhook ( 98486 )

      it's unlikely even they are dumb enough

      Russian's are happy to deliberately contaminate their own people, rivers, lakes and forests with nuclear waste. They fly nuclear powered cruise missiles over their own land. They leak weaponized anthrax in their own cities. They have solders dig and occupy trenches in land they know is contaminated with nuclear waste.

      What could possibly make you believe the Russians would hesitate to spread yet more nuclear waste around in Ukraine if they thought it would bring them some military advantage? In all lik

  • Two sides of the SAME card!

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