Chernobyl Nuclear 'Arch' gets Financial Boost

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - Funding has been secured to complete a giant steel and concrete 'arch' to cover the irradiated site of the former Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine, home to worst nuclear power plant accident in history.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved additional funding to the tune of €350 million ($434 million), alongside and expected injection of €165 million ($204 million) from the G7 and the European Commission (E.C.). The G7 are also organising a pledging event for other potential donors that is due to take place in the spring of 2015, aiming to raise a further €100 million ($124 million) which would close the entire funding gap of €615 million.

The arch, known as the New Safe Containment (NSC) structure, will stand 108 metres high, 257 metres wide and 150 metres long, when fully completed at the end of 2017. The total cost of the Shelter Implementation Plan, of which the New Safe Confinement is the most prominent element, is estimated to be around €2.15 billion ($2.67 billion).

"The New Safe Confinement will make the old Chernobyl shelter and remnants of the damaged reactor safe and environmentally secure," the ERBD stated on announcing the funding. "The Chernobyl Shelter Fund was set up in 1997 with the EBRD as administrator and has received contributions from 43 donor governments to date."

In 1986 an explosion and fire at Chernobyl released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, which spread over much of the former Soviet-controlled Ukraine and Europe. The reactor core of Unit 4 melted and left significant amounts of material containing nuclear fuel in the lower floors of the building. More than 30 people died and over 100,000 were permanently evacuated from the surrounding area. The open reactor was covered only by a temporary cover, or 'sarcophagus'.

The New Safe Containment structure is designed to prevent release of contaminated material from the present shelter and at the same time protect the structure from external impacts such as extreme weather. It weighs in at more than 30,000 tons and has an expected lifespan of 100 years.

In April, Industrial Info reported that the first half of the NSC arch, weighing 12,800 tons, was completed and moved across specially constructed rails to a holding area. Construction is underway on the second half of the arch closer to the site of the destroyed Unit 4 reactor. When completed, it will be moved into position and the first half pushed back into place and joined with it. For additional information, see April 7, 2014, article - Chernobyl Nuclear 'Arch' Takes Shape.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and nine international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. To contact an office in your area, visit the Industrial Info "Contact Us" page.