From a First inspection to the protective sarcophagus of reactor 4 of the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant identified the damage caused by the attack of a perhaps Russian drone armed with explosive charges that would have crashed into the sarcophagus on the night between 13 and 14 February 2025. According to an update published by World Nuclear Newsnuclear -themed topical page managed by the World Nuclear Association, the drone attack has caused a BULD about 6 meters wide In both levels of reactor coating, but the supporting structure is not damaged and radioactivity levels would not give concern. Ukrainian emergency services are working to repair damage to sarcophagus.
The damage of the drone attack on the sarcophagus of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
The emergency service of the Ukrainian State declared that yesterday 17 February Three groups of climbers They began to carry out an inspection, each in charge of analyzing a smoking area of the sarcophagus. The first news that emerged is that i Radiation levels they remain Within the limits envisagedwhile later an area of the external coating of 15 m2at a height of about 87 meters.
More specifically, a hole would have been generated in both levels of coating with a diameter of approx 6 meterswho would have also damaged some electrical cables. In addition to all this, there would be a further slightly damaged area of 200 m2. Fortunately, the damage was not such as to damage the supporting structure and even the innermost coating does not seem to have suffered particular damage.
Chernobyl protective sarcophagi
The first thing to know is that following the tragic accident of April 1986 it was decided to build around the reactor 4 a protective sarcophagus, whose task would have been that of encapsulate the melted hazel and about 200 tons of highly radioactive material. However, this was not designed with a long life expectancy, and therefore it was decided to create a new protective sarcophagus, more external and capable of enclosing the first.
This measurement 257 meters For 162 meters, with a height of 108 meters and a total weight of about 36 thousand tons. It consists of an internal coating layer and an external one around a structure in steel. It is a structure designed to resist earthquakes up to magnitude 6.0, hurricanes and sudden temperature variations. Unlike the first sarcophagus, this has a life expectancy of about a century.
