Today, on the Day of Honouring the Participants in the Liquidation of the Consequences of the Chornobyl Accident, commemorative events were held on the Chornobyl NPP site to honour the heroes who risked their lives to overcome the consequences of one of the largest man-made disasters in human history. This day, established by the Decree of the President of Ukraine dated 10 November 2006, annually recalls the feat of the liquidators who in 1986 stood in the way of the radiation threat.
The accident at the Chornobyl NPP on 26 April 1986 led to the release of a massive amount of radioactive substances, which affected the health of millions of people and the environment in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and other European countries. Liquidators – firefighters, military personnel, engineers, and ordinary citizens – worked under conditions of extreme risk, constructing the “sarcophagus” over the destroyed reactor, decontaminating the territory, and evacuating the population. Many of them paid for this with their health or their lives.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission, which visited the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant last week, documented the consequences of the russian drone attack on the Arch of the New Safe Confinement (NSC).
The attack, that took place on 14 February 2025, caused damage to the integrity of the NSC's outer cladding and a prolonged fire, which significantly damaged the Arch's inner sealing membrane.
This mission is being conducted at the request of Ukraine and was prompted by the attack carried out by a Russian strike UAV equipped with a high-explosive charge. The attack damaged the outer and inner claddings of the New Safe Confinement arch, as well as a number of internal structures, components, and systems important for the safety and functions of the NSC, which were designed to support the transformation of the Shelter Object into an environmentally safe system.
The objective of the mission is to perform an independent assessment of the current safety condition of the facility.
On 20 November, a delegation from the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM), headed by Director General Mr. Michael Knochenhauer, visited the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
During the visit, Swedish radiation safety experts received detailed information about the current status of the Chornobyl NPP and the key tasks being carried out by the plant’s personnel.
- Five Years of Safe Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel at Chornobyl NPP: A Quarter of All Chornobyl NPP Spent Fuel Has Already Been Transferred to the New Facility
- Chornobyl NPP Representatives Returned from International Workshop Held in France
- Chornobyl NPP, EBRD and French companies work together to restore the functionality of the Confinement
- Chornobyl NPP to Cooperate with French Framatome