Chornobyl Sarcophagus at risk of collapse: Greenpeace expert issues dire warning

The «Shelter» object at the Chornobyl NPP is facing potential collapse following a Russian drone strike in February 2025. Shaun Burnie, a nuclear expert at Greenpeace, warns that a structural failure could occur at any moment, UNIAN reports.

According to Burnie, a collapse of the shelter would effectively terminate all urgent radioactivity control measures at the plant.

«The problem is that the NSC (New Safe Confinement — Ed.) is a sealed environment—or at least it was until February 14 last year. Now, it effectively isn’t,» the expert noted.

He explained that one of the primary containment methods is a negative pressure system. This system maintains higher pressure under the roof than in the reactor zone, ensuring air flows inward rather than outward before passing through a heavy-duty filtration and conditioning system.

«This is no longer possible due to the hole caused by the explosion and subsequent fire in the space under the roof. In this sense, the NSC can no longer fully contain radiation that could potentially escape,» the specialist stated.

Will collapse trigger a radiation leak?

Burnie emphasizes that the main danger lies in radioactive dust. In the event of a collapse, this dust would first surge inside the confinement before potentially spreading beyond its boundaries.

«Will it spread for hundreds of kilometers? Most likely not. However, local contamination around the NSC and adjacent nuclear sites—specifically the three reactors—would be so severe that carrying out any work there would become extremely difficult,» the Greenpeace expert warned.

If the confinement itself fails, all existing decommissioning and mitigation plans will have to be scrapped. We are talking about decades of work—roughly 40 years of progress achieved to reach current safety levels.

«We cannot allow the Sarcophagus, the „Shelter“ object, to collapse. And this is exactly what Russia’s actions have led to. Russia has once again weaponized the nuclear factor to threaten Ukraine,» Burnie added.