The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC)
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It has now been 4 years since the Fukushima disaster and now finally after 29 years the biggest engineering project in history, is entering it's final construction phase. The giant steel arch of Ukraine have been built to seal off nuclear fuel buried inside reactor four which blew up in 1986. It has taken 29 years and 40 countries to acquire the money to make such a engineering project.
The huge steel arch will entomb Chernobyl's reactor four, and slash the risk of another radioactive disaster. Standing 360 feet (100 meters) tall, and 843 feet (260 meters) wide, the arch is held together by 680,000 bolts. Built by 500.000 workers the giant radioactive arch of Ukraine is big enough to house the Statue of Liberty.
The shelter, will house the nuclear reactor damaged in the 1986 disaster, and the old concrete structure built to cover it which is approaching the end of its life.
The safe confinement is expected to reduce radioactive emissions drastically.
But the 30-kilometre exclusion zone will remain contaminated.
“The area of exclusion zone will not be free of nuclear waste because there is the intention to have the nuclear waste storages in the exclusion zone, so there will be a permanent waste management operation,” said Vince Novak, Director of Nuclear Safety at the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD).
Once ready, the shelter will be pushed onto rails to cover the reactor. It is hoped to become operational by the second half of 2017.
Experts say it will be another 300 years before it’s safe to live in the area.
“The ark is protecting the sarcophagus where there’s a lot of nuclear and toxic waste. It will be safe to live here after at least 10 radioactive half-lives have passed. An average radioactive half-life lasts 30 years,” said Volodymyr Verbytskyi, an engineer controlling the exclusion zone.
So the immediate area will remain a ghost town.
The cost of the shelter is 2.15 billion euros.
The EU, members of the G7, Russia, Switzerland and other countries are all donors with the EBRD contributing 675 million euros.
Euronews correspondent Sergio Cantone reports from Chernobyl:
“So the construction of the sheltering structure continues according to schedule. The biggest problem will come afterwards and it’s about removing all the radioactive elements in reactor number 4. At the moment a technical solution seems still to be a long way off.
So just like Fukushima there is no technical solution to the continuing contamination of the environment by "super safe" nuclear power.
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| Big enough to house the Statue of Liberty |
The shelter, will house the nuclear reactor damaged in the 1986 disaster, and the old concrete structure built to cover it which is approaching the end of its life.
The safe confinement is expected to reduce radioactive emissions drastically.
But the 30-kilometre exclusion zone will remain contaminated.
“The area of exclusion zone will not be free of nuclear waste because there is the intention to have the nuclear waste storages in the exclusion zone, so there will be a permanent waste management operation,” said Vince Novak, Director of Nuclear Safety at the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD).
Once ready, the shelter will be pushed onto rails to cover the reactor. It is hoped to become operational by the second half of 2017.
Experts say it will be another 300 years before it’s safe to live in the area.
“The ark is protecting the sarcophagus where there’s a lot of nuclear and toxic waste. It will be safe to live here after at least 10 radioactive half-lives have passed. An average radioactive half-life lasts 30 years,” said Volodymyr Verbytskyi, an engineer controlling the exclusion zone.
So the immediate area will remain a ghost town.
The cost of the shelter is 2.15 billion euros.
The EU, members of the G7, Russia, Switzerland and other countries are all donors with the EBRD contributing 675 million euros.
Watch the video
Euronews correspondent Sergio Cantone reports from Chernobyl:
“So the construction of the sheltering structure continues according to schedule. The biggest problem will come afterwards and it’s about removing all the radioactive elements in reactor number 4. At the moment a technical solution seems still to be a long way off.
So just like Fukushima there is no technical solution to the continuing contamination of the environment by "super safe" nuclear power.
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