Chernobyl ruin to be enclosed
For years, the original iron and concrete shelter that was hastily constructed over the reactor has been leaking radiation, cracking and threatening to collapse. The new one, an arch of steel, would be big enough to contain the Statue of Liberty. Once completed, Chernobyl will be safe, said Vince Novak, nuclear safety director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which manages the $505 million project.
The new shelter is part of a $1.4bn effort financed by international donors that began in 1997 and includes shoring up the current shelter, monitoring radiation and training experts. The explosion at reactor No 4 on April 26, 1986, was the world’s worst nuclear accident, spewing radiation over a large swath of the former Soviet Union and much of northern Europe.
