Warning Chernobyl nuclear plant radiation shield is at risk of collapse

 A Russian strike could collapse the internal radiation shelter at the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine, the plant's director has warned. 

Kyiv has accused Russia of repeatedly targeting the facility, the site of a 1986 meltdown that is still the world's worst ever nuclear disaster, since Moscow invaded in February 2022.

A hit earlier this year punched a hole in the outer radiation shell, triggering a warning from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it had 'lost its primary safety functions.'

In an interview with AFP, plant director Sergiy Tarakanov said fully restoring that shelter could take three to four years, and warned that another Russian hit could see the inner shell collapse.

'If a missile or drone hits it directly, or even falls somewhere nearby, for example, an Iskander, God forbid, it will cause a mini-earthquake in the area,' Tarakanov said. 

The Iskander is Russia's short-range ballistic missile system that can carry a variety of conventional warheads, including those to destroy bunkers.

'No one can guarantee that the shelter facility will remain standing after that. That is the main threat,' he added.

The remnants of the nuclear power plant are covered by an inner steel-and-concrete radiation shell - known as the Sarcophagus and built hastily after the disaster - and a modern, high-tech outer shell, called the New Safe Confinement (NSC) structure.

The roof of the NSC was severely damaged in a Russian drone strike in February, which caused a major fire in the outer cladding of the steel structure.

'Our NSC has lost several of its main functions. And we understand that it will take us at least three or four years to restore these functions,' Tarakanov added.

The IAEA said earlier this month an inspection mission found the shelter had 'lost its primary safety functions, including the confinement capability, but also found that there was no permanent damage to its load-bearing structures or monitoring systems.'

Director Tarakanov said that radiation levels at the site remained 'stable and within normal limits.'

The hole caused by the drone hit has been covered with a protective screen, he said, but 300 smaller holes made by firefighters when battling the blaze still need to be filled in.

Russia's army captured the plant at the start of its 2022 invasion, before withdrawing a few weeks later.

It comes after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said several draft documents, including on security guarantees, had been prepared after talks between US and Ukrainian officials on ending Russia's war in Ukraine.

US officials held talks in Miami at ​the weekend with Ukrainian and European delegations, and had separate talks ​in Florida with Russian representatives as ​Washington tests the scope for a settlement after nearly four years of war.

Kyiv, under US pressure to quickly secure peace, ⁠has sought to balance out an initial proposal widely seen as favourable to ​Moscow demanding it cede more territory ‍and restrict its military capabilities.

'They worked productively with envoys ​of President [Donald] Trump and several draft documents have now been prepared,' Zelensky wrote on X after being briefed by Ukrainian negotiators Rustem Umerov and Andrii Hnatov.

'In particular, these include documents on ‍security guarantees for ‍Ukraine, on recovery, and on a basic framework for ending this war.'

Ukrainian officials have sought strong security guarantees from allies to prevent another Russian invasion after any peace deal.

'The points for today have been set in such a way as to correspond to the ⁠objective of actually ending the war and the need to prevent a third Russian invasion,' Zelenskiy added.

Russia also sent troops into Ukraine in ⁠2014, when it seized and annexed Crimea and backed a separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine.

Zelenskiy made his comments after a heavy Russian air attack on Ukraine's energy system that killed at least three people and caused widespread power outages as Ukrainians geared up ‍to celebrate Christmas.

Russian news outlet ⁠Izvestia quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying the talks between Russia and the United States in Miami on ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine should not be seen as a breakthrough.