Donors pledge €278 million to repair Chernobyl’s protective arch
Participants at a donor conference in Paris pledged €278 million to restore the protective arch covering the destroyed reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The commitments cover more than half of the estimated cost of at least €500 million, with the main restoration work planned to begin in 2028 and the damage expected to be repaired by 2030.
Key points
- Donors pledged €278 million at the Paris conference on November 9
- Fifteen donors confirmed the commitments
- G7 countries pledged €260 million
- The full restoration is estimated to cost at least €500 million
- At least €222 million remains to be raised
- A Russian drone struck the New Safe Confinement on February 14, 2025
- Main restoration work is planned to start in 2028 and be completed by 2030
Why it matters
The pledges cover more than half of the estimated cost of restoring the protective structure. After the drone strike, the New Safe Confinement lost its main safety functions and no longer fully isolates the destroyed reactor, creating a risk of an unsafe release of highly radioactive material into Europe.
What happened
At a donor conference in Paris on November 9, 15 donors confirmed a total of €278 million for repairing the protective arch over the destroyed Chernobyl reactor. France, Ukraine and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) co-chaired the conference. France’s total contribution is €40 million, including €10 million for preliminary repair studies and an additional €30 million for the restoration itself. G7 countries pledged €260 million. At least €222 million is still needed to reach the EBRD’s estimated total cost of at least €500 million, and the conference aims to secure the remaining funding by spring 2027. The EBRD plans to have funds in place for contracts and the start of major restoration work in 2028. The work is expected to last around two years, with the damage eliminated by 2030 to reduce corrosion risks to the steel structures.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian coverage emphasizes the scale of the donor commitments, the remaining funding gap and the urgency of restoring the damaged protective structure. It attributes the damage to a Russian drone and highlights Artem Kolesnyk’s position that there was no immediate threat to people, but repairs are urgently needed and Russia should pay for them.
Background
A Russian drone pierced the New Safe Confinement in February 2025, damaging its outer and inner cladding and safety systems. Its supporting structures reportedly were not affected. The metal arch was installed over the concrete Shelter in 2016, while the Shelter itself was built following the reactor explosion in April 1986. In December 2025, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that the New Safe Confinement had lost its main safety functions and no longer fully isolated the destroyed reactor.