IAEA Confirms Chernobyl's New Shelter Has Lost Its Primary Containment After Drone Strike

Overview

• An IAEA inspection last week concluded the New Safe Confinement no longer performs its primary safety function of confining radioactive material.
• Inspectors reported severe damage from the February 14 drone strike that Ukraine attributes to Russia, which Moscow denies.
• The mission found no permanent damage to the shelter’s load‑bearing structures or its monitoring systems.
• Radiation levels have remained stable with no reported releases, and only limited temporary roof repairs have been completed so far.
• Further temporary repair work is planned in 2026 with support from Ukraine’s CSN and the EBRD, while IAEA teams assess power‑supply resilience at critical substations across Ukraine this month.