Russian Forces Attack Centralized Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility in Chornobyl Exclusion Zone

The Russian army struck the Centralized Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility (CSFSF) in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Radiation levels remain normal.

According to Energoatom, on June 7, 2026, at 02:10 a.m., a Russian drone partially destroyed the building used for receiving containers of radioactive waste. No spent nuclear fuel was stored in the building.

The fire, covering 40 square meters, was quickly contained and completely extinguished. There are no injuries among the staff, and radiation levels at the CSFSF site remain within normal limits.

According to the General Staff, the fire was brought under control and fully extinguished within an hour by emergency response teams and a mobile operations unit. Debris from a Shahed attack drone was found at the scene.

Centralized Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility

Ukraine officially commissioned the Centralized Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility in January 2024 despite the security risks posed by the ongoing war.

The facility uses a surface “dry” storage technology for spent nuclear fuel, employing a dual-barrier system to isolate it from the environment. This is achieved through specially designed container-type engineering systems.

The Centralized Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility serves three Ukrainian nuclear power plants: the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant, Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, and South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant.

Spent nuclear fuel is transported from these plants by rail in specially designed trains. Upon arrival in Chornobyl, the fuel is transferred from transport casks into long-term storage containers, which are then encased in concrete.

Even before the facility was officially commissioned, 13 containers of spent nuclear fuel had been placed at the storage site during 2023.

The launch of the facility enabled Ukraine to eliminate its dependence on Russia for spent fuel management. Ukrainian nuclear power plants, like other plants built during the Soviet era, were originally designed around the concept of temporary storage followed by the shipment of nuclear waste to Russia for reprocessing.

On the night of February 13–14, 2025, a Russian attack drone carrying a high-explosive warhead struck the Shelter structure covering Reactor No. 4 of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

Following the attack, the IAEA mission concluded that, although the structural supports and monitoring systems were not permanently damaged, the fire that spread inside the containment caused the sarcophagus to “lose its primary safety functions,” including its ability to provide isolation.

According to preliminary estimates, the cost of restoring and reinforcing the containment’s safety is approximately €500 million.