На відновлення саркофага ЧАЕС потрібно 500 млн євро – Сибіга
This was stated by Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrii Sybiha, in an interview with Ukrinform.
According to Andriy Sybiga, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s shelter was damaged by a Russian drone, and the cost of its restoration currently stands at around 500 million euros.
“The sarcophagus was damaged by a Russian drone, and the cost of the repairs currently stands at around €500 million. [...] And France, as the G7 chair, has proposed discussing this issue ahead of the donor conference to be held in Ukraine in April. So, we are talking about 500 million to restore this sarcophagus,” the minister noted.
Sibiga emphasised that the issue of nuclear safety always extends far beyond the borders of a single country and is part of the global agenda.
What is known about funding and the situation at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
The minister also reported that during the relevant meeting, specific commitments had already been made by a number of countries regarding contributions to the budget of the future fund.
According to him, this will be a joint project with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
“I won’t give any figures right now, but there is already confirmation of several tens of millions of euros. So the process of attracting donor funds has got underway,” Sibiga said.
At the end of February, it was reported that the Ukrainian government had allocated over 1.6 billion hryvnias in budget funds for work to secure the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s containment structure.
It was also previously reported that there remains a high risk of damage to the internal radiation shelter at the Chernobyl NPP in the event of a new strike from Russia. The consequences of such a strike could be critical for the safety of the facility.
In the event of serious damage, restoration of the protective structure could take several years. As of today, the shelter remains vulnerable to missile strikes and UAV attacks.
As a reminder, following heavy shelling by Russian forces, the Chernobyl NPP was left without an external power supply; power lines supplying other nuclear power stations in Ukraine were also damaged.
