nuclear-news

Chernobyl at risk of ‘catastrophic’ collapse as haunting new images of nuclear site emerge

It’s nearly 40 years since the world’s most terrifying nuclear disaster and rare access in side the stricken plant show how it looks today

By Johnny Goldsmith, Picture Editor, 14 Apr 2026, https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/gallery/chernobyl-risk-catastrophic-collapse-haunting-37009206

As the war in Ukraine continues to rage, haunting new images have emerged from inside the site of the world’s most terrifying nuclear catastrophe.

AFP photographer Genya Savilov alongside Greenpeace have been given rare access inside the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history.

An uncontrolled collapse of the internal radiation shell at the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine could increase the risk of radioactivity release in the environment, Greenpeace have warned.

Our gallery reveals the eerie reality of the plant today, nearly 40 years after the 1986 explosion sent radioactive fallout spewing across the globe.

It was on 26th April 1986 when an explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine caused radioactive fallout to begin spewing into the atmosphere.

Dozens of people were killed in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, while the long-term death toll from radiation poisoning is believed to number in the thousands.

April 19, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, Ukraine