Chernobyl Nuclear 'Arch' Takes Shape

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - The first half of a massive arch designed to cover the irradiated site of the massive Chernobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine has been constructed and is being moved closer to its final destination.

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. The first half of the arch weighs in at 12,800 tons and is now being 'skidded' across specially constructed rails to a holding area over 100 metres away. The second half of the arch will now get underway 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. The completion of the first half of the arch is significant as the 25th anniversary of the accident occurs later this month. Chernobyl was the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, and alongside the Fukushima accident in Japan in 20011, one of only two to be rated at the highest level of threat on International Nuclear Event Scale.

In 1986 and explosion and fire 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. Engineers and workers managed to cover the open reactor with a shelter, or sarcophagus, within a number of months but it was never meant to me a permanent solution.

The New Safe Containment (NSC) 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. Weighing more than 30,000 tons, the frame is a massive lattice construction of tubular steel members built on two longitudinal concrete beams. Designed to withstand a tornado, the frame also houses a sophisticated ventilation system to minimise the risk of corrosion. It has an expected lifespan of 100 years according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The giant dome when complete will be moved a final 330 metres to cover the reactor building of Unit 4 using hydraulic jacks. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2015. Completion will allow for safe decommissioning of the rest of the site to get underway.

However, contractors on the project have said it is running 'a year or two' late and there are also concerns over funding as costs rise higher than original estimates.

"We clearly see that our current contract for completion in October 2015 can't be maintained," Vince Novak, director of nuclear safety at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, told media recently. "This [new] date also depends very much also on how long the commissioning of the arch takes; this is certainly something that no-one has experience with. It is clear that the funding committed in 2011 will not be sufficient to complete the project. A revised cost estimate should be completed in a few weeks."

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