UN agency says Chornobyl nuclear plant's protective shield damaged


FILE PHOTO: A general view shows the New Safe Confinement (NSC) structure, that covers the old sarcophagus which confines the remains of the damaged fourth reactor, and was damaged by a drone strike amid ongoing Russia's attack on Ukraine, at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 12, 2025. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo

Dec 5 (Reuters) - A protective shield at the Chornobyl nuclear plant in war-torn Ukraine, built to contain radioactive material from the 1986 disaster, can no longer perform its main safety function due to drone damage, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday, a strike Ukraine has attributed to Russia.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said an inspection last week of the steel confinement structure completed in 2019 found the drone impact in February, three years into Russia's conflict in Ukraine, had degraded the structure.

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