Combine nuclear disaster and the forever war then mix in a hint of global warming and things  could start to seem a little apocalyptic.

Sixty miles from Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities have been battling out of control blazes in the highly contaminated Exclusion Zone surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant since late June.

One of the blazes erupted into a terrifying phenomenon known as a fire tornado or fire devil. Specifically, a fire tornado combines flame and dust driven by extreme winds. With cataclysmic wildfires increasing yearly and extreme heat becoming common, more fire tornados are reported globally.

Air pollution from the fires is affecting air quality in Kyiv and surrounding region. Satellites have recorded large plumes of polluted air with increased levels of carbon monoxide extending 100 mi. from the epicenter of the fire in the exclusion zone. 

The 9 mile radius exclusion zone was established  after the 1986 nuclear disaster. The 1,000 square miles forested area remains closed to the public.

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“History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man.”

– Godzilla, Blue Oyster Cult, 1977

2026 Status: Everything is cool until it isn’t. The most radioactive component of the facility is contained under a $1 billion Safe Containment structure complete in but under increased risk because of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Reactor 4 and the New Safe Confinement

The destroyed Reactor 4 is enclosed beneath the massive New Safe Confinement (NSC), a steel dome completed in 2019 to isolate the damaged reactor while allowing dismantling of the original 1986 concrete shelter. It measures

• 108 m (354 ft) x Span: 257 m (843 ft) x Length: 162 m (531 ft) amd weighs about 36,000 tons.

However, the NSC suffered significant damage from a drone strike in February 2025: The outer shell was punctured and parts of the roof were damaged; Its airtight confinement capability has been degraded..

Radioactive material

Inside Reactor 4 remain:

• roughly 180–190 tonnes of fuel-containing materials (solidified lava-like corium and fuel debris),
• large amounts of radioactive dust,
• contaminated structural materials.

These materials remain hazardous for many decades. The containment dome is warranted for 100 years.