40 years after the disaster, Chernobyl remains at risk
Forty years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the site remains at risk due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which compromised the decommissioning process and damaged the protective structure encasing Reactor 4. A Russian drone strike in February 2025 caused a fire and a 15sq/m hole in the New Safe Confinement structure.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine is still being decommissioned 40 years after the world's worst nuclear disaster. An explosion on April 26, 1986, released radioactive waste into the atmosphere, contaminating a large area and forcing over 200,000 people to leave their homes. The site is still being managed by Ukraine's government, with over 2,000 workers disposing of nuclear waste and dismantling infrastructure. Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 compromised this work, with Russian troops occupying the plant and holding staff captive. A Russian drone strike in February 2025 damaged the New Safe Confinement structure encasing Reactor 4, causing a fire and a 15sq/m hole. The damage could cost €500m to fully repair and has left the structure unable to maintain its internal leak-tightness.
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