500 million euros needed to secure Chernobyl

TT

Published 2026-03-26 21.37

            
           The outer protective shell over the exploded reactor four was damaged by a Russian drone last                   year. Archive photo. Photo: Efrem Lukatsky/AP/TT

The radiation shield over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine was damaged in a Russian drone attack in February last year. The repair cost is estimated at 500 million euros, according to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.

The announcement came during a meeting of the foreign ministers of the G7 countries. The sum corresponds to over 5.4 billion kronor.

Barrot states that the seven major economies will cooperate with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to raise the money.

The Russian drone caused a large hole in the outer radiation protection shell, which began assembly in November 2016 and was completed in 2019. Beneath is the original steel and concrete sarcophagus built after the reactor accident in 1986.