Chernobyl reactor entombed in new sarcophagus

[-:Undertaker:-]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-leaks-ukraine

Chernobyl reactor entombed in new sarcophagus

Soviet plant reactor in Ukraine, scene of worst nuclear disaster in history in 1986, covered with airtight structure with a lifespan of a century after years of work

Reactor No 4 at Chernobyl, the scene of the worst nuclear accident in history, has been enclosed by a vast steel shelter designed to prevent radiation leaks from the site.

The structure covers the reactor and the unstable “sarcophagus”, which was hastily built around it by Soviet authorities in the immediate aftermath of the disaster 30 years ago. The shelter is said to be the largest land-based movable object ever constructed. It took several years to build and cost more than €1.5bn (£1.27bn).

The huge steel arch was moved into place over several weeks, and the completion of this procedure was celebrated with a ceremony at the site on Tuesday, attended by the Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, diplomats and site workers.

Poroshenko paid tribute to the Chernobyl workers who built the initial sarcophagus, despite dangerous radiation levels at the scene of the disaster.

“It was designed to last for 30 years to protect Kiev, Ukraine and the whole world from nuclear contamination. Thirty years later, we are present here just 100 metres away from reactor No 4 and we can say that this new historical construction has been completed,” he said.

Over the coming year, work will continue on the structure to make it airtight and dismantle parts of the sarcophagus inside, using remote-controlled cranes inside the structure. When it is completed in November 2017, the final structure should ensure that the site is airtight for 100 years.

People are banned from living in the zone around Chernobyl and access is only granted by special permit, but a few residents have returned in defiance of the ban. There are plans to develop solar power facilities in the area and Ukrainian authorities want to rebrand the exclusion zone as a destination for tourists, who can visit the city on a day trip from the capital, Kiev, and take an excursion around Pripyat, the ghost city near Chernobyl.

The nearly 50,000 residents of Pripyat, which was built to house Chernobyl workers, were evacuated the day after the disaster and never returned. Its eerie, deserted streets give a snapshot of the late Soviet period.

she's finally been entombed, the famous red and white chimney and that concrete sarcophagus gone.

always had a fascination with radiation and its effects so chernobyl since i was a kid has been an interest of mine. really spooky the immense power of radiation and what it can do to living things..... if i could be a fly on the wall with a time machine one would be to watch the events of that night when the plant went into meltdown. imagine seeing with your own two eyes the reactor in the process of meltdown - of course some did see it and they died shortly afterwards very painful deaths as the radiation essentially wiped out their DNA leaving them dying days later with rotting bones, dying cells and liqifying internal organs. amazing that an invisible force that you cannot see can do all this.

thoughts?

[Chris]

I've always been fascinated by this disaster, it's just so interesting to see the effects of it all and how chernobyl has become overgrown and abandoned. Very eerie indeed.

[Zak]

Not sure I would go there on a day trip. I'd be scared