The British government has announced the allocation of £17 million (approximately $22.45 million) to fund repairs to the New Safe Confinement at Chernobyl — the arch-shaped structure that has covered the destroyed Reactor No. 4 since 2016. The announcement came on 15 October 2026, on the sidelines of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Downing Street.
The New Safe Confinement was struck by a Russian drone in the night between 13 and 14 February 2025. The impact compromised the structure’s containment and ventilation functions. The IAEA subsequently confirmed that the shelter had lost some of its protective capabilities, urging prompt action and warning that partial repairs carried out on the roof are not sufficient to ensure long-term safety. Without structural intervention, corrosion could accelerate the deterioration of decades of international investment.
The UK funds will flow into a broader programme coordinated by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which manages Chernobyl decommissioning funds in cooperation with the Ukrainian government and G7 donor countries. The contribution was announced by Chancellor John Healey and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband. The UK has a track record of this kind of commitment: in 2020, it was among the founding donors of the International Chornobyl Cooperation Account, contributing €8 million and ranking as the third-largest individual donor after Norway and France.
The total cost of the so-called Shelter Implementation Plan — of which the New Safe Confinement is the centrepiece — exceeds €2.15 billion. The structure itself cost around €1.5 billion and was designed and built by the French consortium Novarka, with the involvement of Vinci Construction Grands Projets and Bouygues Travaux Publics. Construction was completed at the end of 2018. The drone strike therefore hit one of the most complex civil engineering feats ever undertaken in the nuclear sector — a structure capable of sliding on rails to enclose the entire reactor building.
The decision to channel the response through the EBRD reflects an approach that has already proven its worth: avoiding the fragmentation of national contributions and ensuring unified technical management of the works. The stated goal is to preserve the operational lifespan of the protective structure, which must remain sound for at least a century. If the necessary resources are mobilised as swiftly as the UK’s commitment has come through, the Chernobyl site could resume full operational status within a timeframe consistent with the safety requirements set out by the IAEA.
