Space Travel News
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
France pledges 10 mn euros for Chernobyl repair: Europe bank
France pledges 10 mn euros for Chernobyl repair: Europe bank
by AFP Staff Writers
London (AFP) May 14, 2025

France will contribute 10 million euros to help fix a radiation cover at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine allegedly hit by a Russian drone, Europe's development bank announced Wednesday.

The amount, equivalent to $11.2 million, was unveiled at the annual conference of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London.

Ukraine has accused Russia of using an explosive drone to damage the containment vault at the power plant in February, in an attack that did not result in any radiation being released.

In 1986, a reactor at Chernobyl exploded during a botched safety test, resulting in the world's worst nuclear accident, which sent clouds of radiation across much of Europe and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate.

Following the incident this year, France has offered funds "to support the restoration of the key functions of" the cover, referred to as the New Safe Confinement.

The "strike rendered systems designed to ensure the NSC's 100-year lifespan non-operational and significantly increased the risk of further deterioration in the absence of swift emergency repairs", said the EBRD, established in 1991 to help former Soviet bloc nations embrace free-market economies.

Thanks to funds from France, the EBRD said it "will support measures to repair the external cladding to stop the ingress of water.

"In the longer term, work will be carried out to restore the core functionality of the facility to minimise the release of further contaminated dust into the environment," the bank added.

France's pledge adds to the EBRD-managed International Chernobyl Cooperation Account, previously holding 25 million euros in funds.

French President Emmanuel Macron's special envoy for the reconstruction of Ukraine, Pierre Heilbronn, said the contribution "illustrates France's longstanding support for Ukraine.

"French companies played a crucial role in building the NSC (up to completion in 2019), and we hope that this first contribution, which comes only three months after the drone attack, should unlock further pledges from partner countries."

British newspaper The Guardian said the repairs could total tens of millions of euros.

The EBRD on Wednesday said it was too early to precise the cost of fixing the cover.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
A world of storm and tempest
When the Earth Quakes

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Second Fukushima debris removal trial complete
Tokyo (AFP) April 23, 2025
A tricky operation to remove a second sample of radioactive debris from inside Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant has been completed, the site operator said Wednesday. Dangerously high radiation levels mean that removing melted fuel and other debris from the plant hit by a huge tsunami in 2011 is seen as the most daunting challenge in the decades-long decommissioning project. Around 880 tonnes of hazardous material are inside the power station - the site of one of history's worst nuclear ... read more

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
What Martian Craters Reveal About Subsurface Composition

Europa Clipper Conducts Critical Mars Flyby for Instrument Calibration

Martian Atmosphere Enables Advanced In-Situ Thermoelectric Power Generation

Martian Seismic Data Suggests Potential Liquid Water Reserves at Depth

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Glass Beads Provide Insight into Moon's Mysterious Interior

Oracle-M Completes Successful Hot Fire Test for Cislunar Space Mission

ispace Achieves Key Mission 2 Milestone with Successful Lunar Orbit Entry

Moon becomes little more out of reach for NASA's VIPER rover

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Juno reveals subsurface secrets of Jupiter and Io

Planetary Alignment Provides NASA Rare Opportunity to Study Uranus

On Jupiter, it's mushballs all the way down

20 years of Hubble data reveals evolving weather patterns on Uranus

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Tracing ancient cyanobacteria reveals early origins of circadian clocks

Twin Star Systems May Hold Key to Planet Formation Insights

NASA Cleanroom Microbes Reveal Survival Strategies for Space and Biotech

Plato nears final camera installation for exoplanet hunt

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
China completes testing of powerful reusable liquid rocket engine

SpaceX sends up more Starlink satellites

SpaceX launches another batch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit

EU faces heat over millions paid to Musk firms

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
China Establishes UN-SPIDER Regional Support Office at Wuhan University

Tiangong returns largest sample set yet for biological and materials science research

Space is a place to found a community not a colony

China's Shenzhou-19 astronauts return to Earth

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Ancient Scottish meteorite strike rewrites timeline of life on land

New analysis upends belief that asteroid Vesta has planetary interior

Carbon reactions during impacts reveal why meteorites seem less shocked

NASA's Lucy Spacecraft Images Asteroid Donaldjohanson

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.