Drone Strike Hits Chernobyl Arch, Raising Cleanup Delay Fears

0:00It's April 25, I'm Cory with the story, this is Canada News Today, driven by AI. 40 years after the Chernobyl disaster rocked the world, a drone strike hit the plant's massive protective arch. Back on April 26, 1986, an explosion at 123 AM unleashed deadly radiation across Europe. Fast forward to February 14, 2025, when the drone damaged the outer layer of the new safe confinement structure, sparking a fire, that crews battled for over two weeks. This arch, finished in 2019 at a cost of $2.1 billion, seals off the ruin reactor number 4 to prevent leaks. The strike didn't break through, hitting a low contamination spot with no radiation spike detected outside. Russia claims Ukraine faked it, while monitors show level steady in no injuries. Doctors like 59-year-old Claudia Omochenko remember evacuating Pripyat as a teen in 1986, leaving everything behind in the 1,000-square-mile exclusion zone.

1:04She returned in 1993, saying war scares her more than radiation now. Engineer Liyudmila Kozak recalls Russian troops seizing the site in 2022, forcing overtime amidst stolen gear and stirred dust. The international atomic energy agency warns the damage cuts the arch's 100-year lifespan, halting plans to dismantle the old sarcophagus, underneath. Experts say, without quick fixes, risks grow for collapse and wider exposure. Repairs are underway, but the setback could delay cleanup by a decade, leaving that ticking time bomb unstable while the world watches Ukraine's fight.