TAG | Chernobyl to be sealed in Giant Steel Coffin |
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| by William Atkins | |
| Tuesday, 29 April 2008 | |
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Page 2 of 2 After the disaster the Soviets constructed an iron-and-concrete structure, called a "sarcophagus," to cover the number four nuclear reactor. With the breakup of the Soviet Union, the disaster site is now located in the country of the Ukraine. Experts contend that a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, could destroy the shelter, re-releasing deadly radiation back into the atmosphere. The $505 million project, which is managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD), is part of a larger $1.4 billion project that has been operational since 1997. The project is funded by the Chernobyl Shelter Fund (pdf file), which has received approximately 810 million Euros since 1997 from international donors. The massive cleanup project has been working for the last nine years at monitoring the radiation leaking out of the shelter (along with the amount of radiation still inside), strengthening the current shelter (which is in poor condition due to weakening effects of the radiation), and other activities associated with the Chernobyl nuclear plant. The new steel arched structure—called a New Safe Confinement structure—will be designed and built by Novarka, a European-Ukrainian consortium led by French construction and engineering firm VINCI Companies. It will be constructed next to the old shelter. When completed (scheduled completion is 2012), it will be transported on railroad tracks over top the old shelter. The new 20,000-ton shelter will be 345 feet (105 meters) in height, 840 feet (256 meters) in width, and 490 feet (149 meters) in length. It will cover nuclear reactor unit number four and the old shelter structure. The construction is scheduled to begin in 2009. The designers state that the structure will last one hundred years. The United Nations Chernobyl website is: “The United Nations and Chernobyl.” Historical information about the Chernobyl accident is found at the Nuclear Energy Agency’s website: “Chernobyl: Assessment of Radiological and Health Impacts.”
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