The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that, at the Chornobyl site, firefighters have made progress in extinguishing the fire on the roof of the New Safe Confinement (NSC) caused by a drone strike on 14 February. The IAEA team at the site was informed that no smouldering fires had been detected. The site continues to use thermal imaging and surveillance drones to monitor the structure.

The Chornobyl site has continued to perform frequent radiation monitoring and report the results to the IAEA team. The IAEA team has also undertaken its own independent monitoring. To date, all monitoring results have shown that there has not been any increase in the normal range of radiation levels measured at the site nor any abnormal readings detected.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine on its Telegram channel and the press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine also reported that the elimination of the consequences of the strike has been completed… and that monitoring continues.

According to the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management, thermal image monitoring will continue and emergency workers, including climbers, will remain on site in case they are required. It said that the next step will be analysis of the damage caused to the New Safe Confinement.

The NSC was completed in 2019 to cover the sarcophagus (shelter) that was hastily erected in the immediate aftermath of the 1986 accident to protect the destroyed reactor. It was intended to protect the shelter from rain and meltwater, and to provide a space to carry out its partial dismantling.

It has two layers of internal and external cladding around the main steel structure – about 12 metres apart – with the IAEA confirming that both had been breached in the incident. The NSC was designed to allow for the eventual dismantling of the ageing makeshift shelter and the management of radioactive waste. It is also designed to withstand temperatures ranging from -43°C to +45°C, a class-three tornado, and an earthquake with a magnitude of 6 on the Richter scale.