Five technicians are guaranteed by the wires near the upper curved part of the curved steel structure that waves on the horizon, the equivalent of 40 stories, in an attempt to extinguish the last parts of the amazing insulation left by a drone. Snow was the temperature less than freezing. The steel was covered with ice.
The hole of the strike was very large, about 540 square feet, and a danger for many reasons – primarily because it was at risk the safety of the protective cortex that covers reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Energy Station, the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history.
Ukrainian officials said this violation was also deliberate, as it was installed at 1:59 am on Friday by a Russian drone with highly inhaled warships. Nuclear experts called it one of the most dangerous attacks that could invade Ukraine for nearly three years.
Despite the strike, the levels of radiation in Chernobil remained normal on Friday. Much less than the arched cover, concrete “coffin”, chaos that envelops the reactor and very radioactive debris. No one was injured or killed.
However, the Ukrainian authorities described the strike as bold, as a nuclear power plant be struck on the eve of the gathering of world leaders in Munich and the risk of disaster.
The Kremlin denied that the Russian army had hit the factory. Her spokesman, Dmitry S. Peskov, implicitly that the breach was a kind of fraud by the Ukrainians. “The Russian army does not do this,” he said.
Andre Danik, head of the government emergency service in Ukraine, said he was still burning from late afternoon. He added that the hole will take months to repair it, and it has not yet clarified all the work that must be done until it is sealed.
“You have a wonderful and terrible situation, because this is not supposed to happen,” said Sean Borni, a great nuclear specialist in Greenpis who has watched nuclear power plants in Ukraine since 2022 and who visited Chernobyl on Friday. It was never designed for a deliberate military attack. Russian war crimes have been investigated, and this seems to be other crimes. “
On Friday, Ukrainian officials showed that drones reporters say the factory – Shahi, was usually published by Russia and they were sealed with a symbol of 15480. They offered it near a warning mark of radioactive activity, as if it had proven the seriousness of the attack.
A preliminary analysis conducted by McKenzie Intelligence Services, a British consultant company, was assigned on Friday by Greenpeace, said video clips showed some minor internal damage in the facility. The analysis also said that the drums of the drone engine “definitely” is the remnants of the piston engine that operates a drone, which Iran provided to the Russians.
The analysis also said that the drone system is guided by pre -determined coordinates. The analysis added that “this will indicate almost deliberate targeting” by the factory by the Russians.
President Folodimir Zelinski of Ukraine told journalists at the Munich Security Conference in Germany that the drone was flying at an altitude of about 278 feet, which cannot be discovered by radar.
“This was not a state of drone change or anything like that,” said Mr. Zelinski.
The $ 1.7 billion protection shell was damaged Complete in 2019It was built with the help of 45 countries to ensure that a nuclear accident, such as the incident that occurred in 1986, will not happen here again.
The structure was an engineering action, designed to seal huge amounts of radioactive isotopes of fire and collapse in 1986 in reactor No. 4. The coffin built in a hurry was deteriorating, but the purpose of the curved steel was the last generations. Mr. Borni said he was brought on railways, and about 40,000 tons, is the largest mobile structure ever.
Outside the entry point of entry of Chernobyl, a yellow mark announces the “Great Building” program of Mr. Zellinski, announcing “Chernobyl – from the exclusion area to the Renaissance area.”
More than a disaster area, a lot of 1,000 miles of Chirinopil’s exclusion area, where access is completely limited, a stories forest, with snow -covered pine trees and small villages. But the houses were abandoned. Most of them have signs that say the number of people who used to live there.
On Friday, military checkpoints and police were stopped every few miles. A convoy of military trucks moved to the factory. He led two of the fire engines towards the exit.
In the same factory, the incomplete reactor was similar to the giant giant enemy group. An advertising board near reactor No. 4 photographed a large fire and urged people to summon the emergency number in Ukraine 101 in the event of a disaster.
Make snow it is difficult to see a lot of anything in the factory. Fire trucks were stalled in a lot near reactor No. 4. Mr. Danik said that snow and ice surfaces made emergency work more dangerous, but workers hope to extinguish the insulation by Friday night.
He added that the Ukrainian hydrological center was watching radiation levels worldwide. She remained normal.
He said: “Our team is constantly going on to ensure that no person is radiation.”
Olxander Titarsuk, the factory’s chief engineer, said that his team and other specialists are planning to “temporarily analyze and seal the conquest” to prevent more moisture from entering the structure, which can speed up corrosion. But this will not be a radiation -resistant seal, which means that the shell no longer serve the job it had before the strike.
“We understand that the snow is falling, and it expects the rain and that the water used while suppressing the fire has also become radiant waste,” said Mr. Titarsuk. “However, I must confirm that the levels of radiation did not increase and remain under control.”
The workers will then have to discover a more permanent solution – a solution that does not appear clear on Friday afternoon.
Oleksandra mykolyyshyn The reports contributed.
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/02/14/multimedia/14ukraine-Chernobyl-scene-fcbz/14ukraine-Chernobyl-scene-fcbz-facebookJumbo.jpg
Source link