In brief: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is seeking at least €500 million ($545 million) to repair the New Safe Confinement at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant after a Russian drone strike punctured its protective arch. G7 nations have pledged €260 million ($283 million), with France, Ukraine, and the EBRD set to co-chair a donor conference in Paris on Nov. 9. Officials warned repairs must conclude by 2030 to prevent corrosion around Reactor No. 4.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is seeking at least €500 million ($545 million) to repair the protective shelter at Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which was damaged in a Russian drone strike.
The New Safe Confinement, a giant steel structure covering the remains of Reactor Four, which exploded in the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986, was severely damaged by a Russian drone strike in February 2025.
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The attack punctured the shelter’s inner and outer layers, compromising systems designed to contain radioactive material.
The EBRD estimates repairs will cost at least €500 million, with G7 countries pledging €260 million in October.
“It’s not a Ukrainian problem,” Odile Renaud-Basso, the president of the EBRD, told Politico. “Everybody should feel concerned about nuclear safety globally.”
Renaud-Basso warned that repairs must be completed by 2030 to prevent moisture from causing corrosion beneath the steel arch, potentially making radioactive material more difficult and costly to manage.
She stressed that funding for the repairs should not compete with other urgent assistance to war-torn Ukraine but should be treated as an investment in international nuclear safety.
‘It’s going to be a challenge’
France, Ukraine and the EBRD will co-chair a donor conference in Paris on November 9 to secure additional pledges, although the bank does not expect to raise the full amount immediately.
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“It’s going to be a challenge,” Renaud-Basso said.
The EBRD aims to secure enough money to award contracts and begin major restoration work in 2028, with repairs expected to take around two years.
Despite Russia’s responsibility for the strike, the bank does not expect Moscow to contribute.
Renaud-Basso said the costs could instead be recovered through potential future war reparations.
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