Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP), Pripyat

36,000 tonnes of steel. 257 metres wide, 109 metres tall. The largest movable land structure ever built by humanity — constructed solely to cover a single destroyed reactor.

Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant is the place where, in April 1986, the world first truly understood what a peaceful atom looks like when it escapes control. Today a colossal arch stands over the fourth unit, and the station itself is once again at the centre of history — this time because of war.

Location Card

In this article

1. What it is and why people come
2. History: the explosion, the sarcophagus, and the arch
3. Technical specifications of the confinement
4. ChNPP and war: occupation and the 2025 strike
5. Legends and mystique
6. What to see on site
7. How to get there and access
8. Visitor checklist
9. Frequently asked questions

What it is and why people come

Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant is a former atomic power station a few kilometres from Prypiat. It was here that the fourth reactor exploded on 26 April 1986, triggering the worst industrial disaster in human history.

Today the station generates no electricity — the last reactor was shut down back in 2000. But it remains an active nuclear facility requiring constant monitoring. People come not to be «entertained» but to see with their own eyes the precise point from which a whole era in the history of technology, ecology, and human fear began.

The main draw for visitors is the viewing platform opposite Unit 4, from which you can see the vast arch of the New Safe Confinement. Standing a couple of hundred metres from the accident site while your dosimeter ticks quietly is an experience no photograph can convey.

History: the explosion, the sarcophagus, and the arch

The night that changed everything

In the early hours of 26 April 1986, during a failed safety test, the fourth reactor exploded. A colossal quantity of radioactive material was released into the atmosphere — by various estimates, many times more than the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The fire was extinguished at the cost of the lives of the first responders, among them 23-year-old Volodymyr Pravyk.

The fallout spread across half of Europe. Prypiat was evacuated the following day, and a 30-kilometre exclusion zone was established around the station — one that still exists today.

The first sarcophagus: concrete over catastrophe

To halt the release, a concrete «sarcophagus» — known as the Shelter Object — was urgently built around the ruined reactor. It consumed more than 400,000 cubic metres of concrete and around 7,000 tonnes of steel structures. On 30 November 1986 the sealed unit was formally handed over for maintenance.

The problem was that the Shelter was built in frantic conditions and with extreme haste. The structure was neither airtight nor designed to last for decades — over time it aged and needed replacing.

The first sarcophagus was built as a temporary solution to last a few decades. It stood for more than thirty years — waiting for humanity to build something more reliable.

The arch that took two weeks to slide into place

Construction of the New Safe Confinement (NSC) began in April 2012. The gigantic arch was assembled alongside the reactor, then in November 2016 it was slowly slid into position — at a rate of roughly 10 metres per hour. The process took nearly two weeks.

On 10 July 2019 the NSC was officially commissioned. Since then, Unit 4 has been covered by the largest movable land structure in the world.

Technical specifications of the confinement

The scale of the NSC is genuinely hard to grasp until you see it in person:

• Weight: approximately 36,200 tonnes.
• Arch span: 257 metres.
• Height: 109 metres — taller than a 30-storey building.
• Length: over 160 metres.
• Design service life: 100 years.
• Cost: more than USD 2 billion, raised from international donors.

Beneath the arch lies not only the reactor but also the old sarcophagus — the confinement covers the entire Shelter so that it can eventually be safely dismantled from the inside.

ChNPP and war: occupation and the 2025 strike

On 24 February 2022, the first day of the full-scale invasion, Russian forces seized Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The station, along with its staff, was held under occupation for more than a month, until the end of March. The episode was unprecedented: for the first time in history, an active nuclear facility fell under the control of an army waging aggressive war.

The most alarming event, however, came later. On 14 February 2025, a Russian strike drone hit the New Safe Confinement, causing a fire and damage in exactly the most vulnerable part of the structure.

After the strike, the confinement lost its airtight seal: hundreds of holes formed in its shell, putting its core function — containing radioactive dust — under serious threat.

According to expert assessments and the IAEA, the structure is currently not performing its protective functions in full. Restoration work is planned through the end of 2026, with full airtightness needing to be restored by 2030 — otherwise the arch risks becoming non-functional. The station that was supposed to be a closed chapter of history has once again become one of the most significant threats to European safety.

Legends and mystique

No site in Ukraine has accumulated as many myths as the ChNPP. Separating fact from fiction here is particularly compelling.

1. The «Elephant’s Foot»

Beneath the reactor, lava from melted nuclear fuel, concrete, and sand solidified into what is known as corium — nicknamed the «Elephant’s Foot». In the early years, a few minutes near it meant a lethal dose. This is no legend: it is a very real, deeply unsettling object that still lies in the depths of the unit today.

2. The wildlife that came back

Without people, the Zone became an accidental nature reserve. Wolves, elk, lynx, and Przewalski’s horses roam here. Popular imagination romanticises this as «nature defeating the atom» — though scientists note that radiation levels here remain uneven.

3. The «resort» that shocked the world

A more recent «legend»: during the 2022 occupation, Russian soldiers dug trenches in the radioactive Red Forest, apparently unaware of the danger. The story of an army setting up camp at one of the most hazardous sites on the planet sounds like fiction — but it is a documented fact.

What to see on site

The viewing platform at Unit 4. The classic vantage point with a commemorative marker, offering a direct view of the NSC arch. The defining shot of any visit to the station.

The New Safe Confinement itself. Visible from a distance — a smooth steel half-cylinder dominating the entire landscape of the Zone.

The ghost city of Prypiat. Adjacent to the station, Prypiat is the world’s most famous abandoned city — most naturally visited on the same itinerary as the ChNPP.

Context for the whole region. For a broader overview of routes and sites, see our guide to the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.

How to get there and access

Important. The ChNPP is a restricted nuclear facility deep within the Exclusion Zone. Independent access is impossible: entry requires an organised tour, official permits, and a guide.

Current status. Due to the full-scale war, the occupation of the Zone in early 2022, the strike on the confinement in 2025, and the mining of parts of the territory, tourist access to the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone is currently closed. Any future trip planning must be based on current official decisions.

How it worked before. Until 2022, visitors came on one- and multi-day tours from Kyiv (roughly 2 hours to the Dytyatky checkpoint), with mandatory briefings, dosimetric monitoring, and a fixed route.

Visitor checklist

For when the Zone reopens:

• Official tour and passport: entry only by permit and advance registration.
• Closed clothing and footwear: long sleeves, trousers, nothing placed on the ground.
• Dosimeter: to monitor background radiation and identify hotspots yourself.
• Water and snacks: no shops in the Zone; eating outdoors is not permitted.
• Stick to the route: wandering off is not adventurous — it is a genuine risk.

What NOT to do: touch the station structures, take any object out of the Zone, or leave the permitted route.

Frequently asked questions

Is Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant still operating?

No. The last reactor was shut down on 15 December 2000. The station generates no electricity but remains a nuclear facility under constant monitoring.

What is the New Safe Confinement?

A gigantic steel arch weighing approximately 36,000 tonnes, 109 metres tall and 257 metres across, slid into place over Unit 4 in 2019, covering the original sarcophagus.

What happened to the confinement in 2025?

On 14 February 2025, a Russian strike drone hit the structure, causing a fire and loss of airtightness. Restoration is planned through the end of 2026.

Can I visit now?

Not yet. Tourist access to the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone is closed due to the war and the mining of parts of the territory. Check the latest official decisions.

Is it safe to stand near Unit 4?

At the designated viewing platform, the radiation level is acceptable for a brief visit — which is precisely why tour groups were brought there. But this holds only within the confines of an organised, monitored itinerary.

Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant is a place where humanity twice over-estimated its own certainty. First, when it decided it had tamed the atom. Then, when it thought covering the disaster with an arch had closed the matter for ever.

The 2025 strike was a reminder of something simple: Chornobyl is not «history» — it is an ongoing process. And those 36,000 tonnes of steel above the reactor are not a monument to the past; they are a shield that still needs repairing.