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Pripyat, Ukraine — <\/span>Two explosions at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant occurred in the dark of night, decades apart.<\/p>\n First, at 1:23 On 26 April 1986,<\/a> A cloud of deadly radiation spread that spread fear across Europe and shook the foundations of the Soviet Union. Some say this led to its eventual decline.<\/p>\n The second, at 1:59 am on February 14, 2025, was convicted by Ukrainian authorities Russian drone with explosive weapon.<\/a> Although not as devastating, it still raised new concerns Moscow’s attack on its neighbor,<\/a> Attacking a place that symbolizes so much suffering for Ukraine.<\/p>\n “What once seemed unimaginable \u2013 attacks on nuclear facilities and other dangerous sites \u2013 has now become reality,” said Oleh Solonenko, head of the radiation safety shift at Chernobyl, which Ukrainians transcribe as Chernobyl.<\/p>\n The drones attacked the outer layer of what is known as the New Safe Confinement Structure, or NSC, the giant, $2.1 billion arch-like shell that was completed in 2019 to encase the original, hastily constructed concrete \u201csarcophagus\u201d to protect the damaged reactor No. 4 and its deadly debris from leaking radiation. Moscow denied targeting the plant and alleged that Kiev staged the attack.<\/p>\n This caused the fire to reach the structure \u2013 which is tall enough to cover the Statue of Liberty \u2013 but did not penetrate it, causing damage in an area with less pollution. Monitors detected no increase in radiation levels outside the arc, and no one was injured.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, the International Atomic Energy Agency warned that the damage could significantly reduce the arch’s 100-year lifespan, compromising its main safety functions.<\/p>\n For Klavdiya Omelchenko, who worked with more than 2,200 engineers, scientists and others at the shuttered plant, it brought back memories of a fateful spring day 40 years ago.<\/p>\n In 1986 Omelchenko was a 19-year-old garment factory worker, sleeping in her home in Pripyat, where most of the Chernobyl workers lived. He did not hear the explosion at reactor number 4 during routine testing.<\/p>\n She woke up to rumors of an accident, but its scale was understood only a few weeks later \u2013 when she was evacuated with her documents and a small bag filled with some cosmetics. his former home was now in Chernobyl’s “Exclusion Zone”<\/a> 2,600-square-kilometre (1,000-square-mile) area that remains uninhabited.<\/p>\n Soviet officials did not immediately disclose the scope of the incident, known as the world’s worst nuclear disaster, which spewed clouds of radiation over what is now Ukraine and Belarus and caused concern across Europe. Dozens of people died soon afterwards, while the long-term death toll from radiation is unknown.<\/p>\n Omelchenko never found another home and returned to work in the plant’s cafeteria in 1993. That comeback, he added, “wasn’t as scary as it is now.” Then, at least, there was no bombing.”<\/p>\n For them, a full-scale invasion in 2022 and last year’s drone strike are even more frightening than radiation.<\/p>\n She said she suffered headaches after the 1986 accident and later had surgery for a precancerous condition, but at age 59, she dismisses the threat of contamination.<\/p>\n \u201cWe grew up in it,\u201d she said. “We don’t pay attention to it anymore.”<\/p>\n Yellow daffodils bloom next to wartime fortifications at the Chernobyl plant, when plainly dressed workers, with badges and special permits, pass through the restricted zone.<\/p>\n It has not produced electricity since 2000, when the last of four reactors was shut down. A global effort led to the construction of the protective NSC \u2013 a landmark project designed to stabilize the site and enable the dismantling of the crumbling Soviet-era sarcophagus that covered the reactor.<\/p>\n But Russia’s invasion has put that project on hold.<\/p>\n Lyudmila Kozak, an engineer who has worked at Chernobyl for more than two decades, was on duty when Russian troops took over the plant in February 2022. Crews ran the operation under armed guard for approximately three weeks, exposing personnel to radiation doses far beyond the limits of their normal rotation schedule.<\/p>\n “We had no hope that we would survive \u2013 it was really very scary,” he said.<\/p>\n Kozak said workers slept on floors and desks, with Russian troops occupying key areas. Equipment was damaged and stolen, he said. Soldiers also drove heavy vehicles into contaminated areas and dug trenches, which spread radioactive dust.<\/p>\n \u201cWith drone strikes, it will become more complex,\u201d Kozak said.<\/p>\n The IAEA found that the damage has left the Ark unable to fully perform its original functions, containing radioactive material and enabling safe disposal of reactor debris. Unless repaired, the structure will gradually weaken, increasing radiation exposure to Ukraine and other countries.<\/p>\n Serhiy Bokov, who oversees the NSC’s operations, said he was on duty on the morning of February 14, 2025, when a loud blast from the drone rocked the structure.<\/p>\n He and his co-workers ran outside after smelling smoke, but initially saw nothing. A nearby military post confirmed the attack, and firefighters arrived about 40 minutes later.<\/p>\n Climbing up the structure, they eventually found a fire smoldering through the outer membrane. Hoses were stretched across the arch as crews battled the flames, which rose repeatedly. It took more than two weeks to completely extinguish the fire.<\/p>\n He said, “There was no sense of fear, not at all. It was just fire \u2013 something we practice in practice \u2013 only this time it was real.” “To be honest, I didn’t think we’d lose the whole arc.”<\/p>\n The damage has been patched and hidden on the inside, while a sealed breach is visible on the outside.<\/p>\n Every night, Bokov walks more than a kilometer (about 1,100 yards) through the structure through what workers call the “Golden Corridor” \u2013 a path lined with yellow panels that protect them from radiation. It passes abandoned control rooms, including Reactor No. 4.<\/p>\n When the NSC was completed in 2019, he was proud to be a part of something extraordinary, to see it grow and take shape, and to be a member of the team that keeps it running.<\/p>\n However, the structure is no longer completely sealed. Although there is no immediate radiation risk, work on destroying the coffins has stalled \u2013 going back at least a decade, Bokov believes.<\/p>\n He said, “Everything depends on how quickly we can restore it and return to normal operations \u2013 and prepare to dismantle it.”<\/p>\n Bokov believes that the Ark may continue to function in its current state for some time. But the real concern is the stability of the coffin beneath it \u2013 and why it is necessary to start dismantling it all over again.<\/p>\n Oleh Solonenko, head of the radiation protection shift at the plant, said the drone damaged the outer layer of the protective NSC, but did not penetrate it completely. The damage occurred in an area of \u200b\u200blow contamination, with no increase in radiation beyond the arc.<\/p>\n Still, he said, the incident showed how the war has upended perceptions about nuclear safety.<\/p>\n Without immediate repairs, the risk of the sarcophagus collapse increases significantly, Greenpeace Ukraine warns in a report by engineer Eric Schmemann, who spent years in Chernobyl and helped design the NSC.<\/p>\n “It is difficult to understand the scale of the deadly, dangerous conditions inside the coffin,” he said. “There is a lot of highly radioactive nuclear fuel, dust and debris there. It is now important to find a way to restore the facility’s key functions.”<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n AP journalists Vasilisa Stepanenko and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kiev contributed. <\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage Outrider Foundation<\/a>. AP is solely responsible for all content. ___ Additional AP coverage of the nuclear scenario: https:\/\/apnews.com\/projects\/the-new-nuclear-landscape\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pripyat, Ukraine — Two explosions at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant occurred in the dark of night, decades apart. First, at 1:23 On 26 April 1986, A cloud of deadly radiation spread that spread fear across Europe and shook the foundations of the Soviet Union. Some say this led to its eventual decline. 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