The SSE "Chornobyl NPP", the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the French companies Bouygues and Vinci, which were part of the Novarka consortium, continue their cooperation to restore the New Safe Confinement (NSC) functionality.

According to Serhii Tarakanov, Director General of Chornobyl NPP, over the past few months Bouygues and Vinci have been working on proposals for the NSC restoration, including an assessment of the time frame, cost and radiation exposure to personnel.

These issues were discussed by the management of the Chornobyl NPP, representatives of the EBRD and French companies at a working meeting on March 9, on the eve of the Assembly meeting of the International Chornobyl Cooperation Account, which will be held on March 31 in London, where an interim report on potential restoration options is planned to be presented, along with the results of an assessment of the damaged area.

“In October last year, the plant’s staff and the SES units managed to carry out a number of urgent measures and close the hole in the outer cladding of the Confinement damaged by a russian drone. This made it possible to get through the autumn-winter period relatively smoothly and to prevent excessive ingress of precipitation into the structure. However, this solution was only temporary. Now it is necessary to undertake comprehensive repairs and full restoration of the NSC functionality. In our opinion, no one will be able to handle this task better than the companies that designed and built the Confinement. These are the French companies Bouygues and Vinci, which worked as part of the NOVARKA consortium,” said Serhii Tarakanov.

According to him, the meeting discussed the possibility of a renewed merger between Bouygues and Vinci as part of the NOVARKA-2 International Consortium. It was noted that the restoration work could be carried out by joint efforts of French specialists and the personnel of the Chornobyl NPP. Such synergy is optimal in terms of load distribution and maintaining the required pace of work. The full restoration of the NSC functionality should be completed by 2030 in order to prevent accelerated corrosion of structures due to their interaction with the external atmosphere.

“It is very important to restore the function of containing radioactive substances within the NSC, as well as active anti-corrosion protection to ensure the functioning of the Confinement for the designed hundred years. After completing the comprehensive repair work within the specified time frame (by 2030), we will be able to move on to the implementation of the main task for which the New Safe Confinement was built - dismantling the unstable structures of the Shelter Object and transforming it into an environmentally safe system”, Serhii Tarakanov reminded.

He added that in order to fully restore the functioning of the New Safe Confinement, it is necessary to carry out a whole range of measures, including the replacement of all damaged membranes; repair of the main cranes maintenance system and other damaged equipment, as well as steel supporting structures; restoration of full tightness of the outer cladding. All this is an extremely difficult technical task, given the high radiation fields in the work area.

As reported, on February 14, 2025, russia carried out a direct hit of a strike unmanned aerial vehicle into the Arch of the NSC. As a result of the attack, the tightness of the protective cladding was broken, the function of anti-corrosion protection of metal structures was lost, and critical systems and equipment were damaged.

The attack caused long-term multi-million-dollar losses to the plant, significantly complicated the implementation of the Chornobyl NPP decommissioning program, and created risks of new nuclear threats for the entire European continent.

The loss of NSC functionality was directly confirmed by a special IAEA mission in November 2025.