Chernobyl, Ukraine (Reuters) – Ukraine is looking for solutions to repair the damage caused by a Russian drone attack on Chernobyl’s nuclear power plant, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Svitlana Hrynchuk, said on Saturday.
She spoke outside the deactivated station during the presentation of a 0.8 Megawatt solar installation before two conferences discussing Chernobyl and other issues related to nuclear energy operations.
Hrynchuk said Ukraine was working together with experts to determine the best way to restore the proper functioning of the containment structure, or arc after the drone attack on February 14.
“Unfortunately, after the attack, the arc has partially lost its functionality. And now, I believe that in May, we will have the results of the analysis we are doing…” he said.
Participated in the analysis, according to her, the European bank for reconstruction and development, scientific institutions and companies involved in the installation of the arch in 2019 to cover the leakage of the “sarcophagus”, in a hurry in the weeks following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
“In a few weeks, we will have the first results of this analysis,” he estimated.
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“We’re working on this… Of course we need to restore the ‘arc’ so that there are no leaks under any circumstances, because ensuring nuclear and radiological safety is a main task.”
Plant authorities said the drone attack opened a large hole in the external coverage of the new containment structure and exploded inside. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova drew attention to the chernobyl incident of “a provocation.”
The containment container aimed to cover a huge and deteriorated structure of steel and concrete erected after the explosion of the fourth reactor of the plant, spreading radioactivity through much of Europe in the largest nuclear accident in the world.
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The plant is within the 30 km (18 miles) exclusion zone created after the accident, with abandoned apartments buildings and an amusement park still standing nearby.
Hrynchuk said the solar power plant was important to maintain enough energy supply for the deactivated season and was also a beginning for renewable energy promotion plans in the area.
“Many years ago we say the exclusion zone has to be transformed into a renewal zone,” she said. “And this territory, like no other in Ukraine, is suitable for the development of renewable energy projects.”
