The nearly three years of fighting have seen repeated power cuts to the critical cooling system at Chernobyl, as well as at Ukraine's four active nuclear plants, causing fears that spent nuclear fuel could overheat.
Ukraine's nuclear ghosts were raised again on Friday after a drone armed with a warhead hit the protective outer shell of the plant at Chernobyl, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident.
Some parts of the Russia-captured Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is Europe’s biggest, have been repeatedly struck by drones — attacks Russia and Ukraine blamed on each other — but none have led to radioactive threats.
Nuclear safety experts have told The Associated Press that internal radioactive decay continues for thousands of years inside fuel rods after they have been used to generate power, giving off heat.
Three other nuclear reactors at Chernobyl have been shut down long ago, but the plant houses spent fuel and contaminated equipment awaiting to be dismantled during a long decommissioning process.
