The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) says at least €500 million — yaani about €50 crore — will be needed to repair the New Safe Confinement at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine and restore the structure to full functionality, after what the bank and the G7 describe as a Russian drone strike severely damaged it on February 14, 2025.

Source: EBRD

The New Safe Confinement is the enormous steel arch built over the remains of Reactor 4, which exploded in April 1986 in the world's worst nuclear accident. The arch contains the reactor's remains and allows the original Soviet-era sarcophagus beneath it to be dismantled safely. According to the EBRD, the February 2025 strike damaged both the inner and outer cladding of the structure, creating a breach of about 15 square metres and damaging around 200 square metres of panels.

G7 pledges €260 million — barely half

The G7 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — expressed grave concern over the nuclear safety risks caused by the strike and pledged €260 million to fund urgent repairs, in an announcement made at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Autumn Meetings in Bangkok. The United Kingdom's share is £17 million, for structural and ventilation repairs so moisture cannot enter the sealed space beneath Reactor 4 and accelerate corrosion. The G7 also called on other international partners to contribute to covering the remaining financing needs.

EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso said: “The EBRD is grateful to the G7 nations for their continued leadership and commitment to nuclear safety at Chornobyl. We join the G7 in calling on the wider international community to contribute to these efforts at a donor conference we are convening in Paris on 9 November 2026, co-chaired by France, Ukraine and the EBRD.” Renaud-Basso told Politico that the damage has to be repaired before 2030; the bank intends to collect the remaining money so repair work can begin in 2028 and last about two years, and it does not expect Russia to pay for the damage.

Why 2030 matters

The EBRD says the work needs to be completed by 2030 to limit the risk of corrosion of the steel arch and safeguard the structure's 100-year design life. Radiation monitoring has not indicated an immediate radiological emergency, but engineers warn that prolonged exposure to moisture through the damaged cladding could corrode the arch and undermine its long-term integrity, making repairs harder and more expensive the longer they are delayed. The €500 million figure is a floor, not a ceiling, since detailed technical assessments are still under way.

Preparatory work is already moving: in September 2026, the Chornobyl plant and the NOVARKA 2 consortium signed an agreement launching the initial engineering stage, and an earlier €30 million allocation through the EBRD-managed International Chornobyl Cooperation Account is funding the technical, regulatory and logistical groundwork. The EBRD has led global efforts to stabilise and manage risks at Chornobyl since 1995, mobilising over €2.5 billion in international contributions and providing more than €700 million of its own resources.