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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Thirty-three years after the world's worst nuclear power accident, the New Safe Confinement (NSC) dome at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine has been commissioned.
Following a 72-hour trial operation test, the commissioning of the giant dome over the destroyed Reactor 4 marks the end of a decade of safety and reclamation works at the site, which has been largely bank-rolled to the tune of billions of euros from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and 45 donor nations through the Chernobyl Shelter Fund. Erected in 2016, the NSC was the world's largest moveable land-based structure, standing 110-metres tall, 165-metres long and with an arch span of 257 metres, it is big enough to house London's St. Paul's or Paris' Notre Dame cathedrals. The massive steel and concrete arch weighs 36,000 tonnes, and the project represents the largest international collaboration ever in the field of nuclear safety. To date, it has cost in excess of 2.1 billion euro ($2.3 billion). Since installation of the dome--which was constructed by Novarka, a consortium by the French engineering companies Bouygues and Vinci--has allowed for the dismantling of the ageing shelter and management of the radioactive waste within.
Balthasar Lindauer, EBRD director of Nuclear Safety, said: "This is a tremendous success and the result of the outstanding cooperation of all parties involved. We thank our donors for their commitment and our partners for the finalisation of this unique project."
An explosion and fire at the Unit 4 reactor in 1986 killed more than 30 people and forced the permanent evacuation of 200,000 people from the surrounding area. The melted reactor left significant amounts of material containing nuclear fuel in the lower floors of the building. A 30-kilometre "exclusion zone" was imposed then and is still in place.
The EBRD also manages the Nuclear Safety Account which finances two additional decommissioning infrastructure facilities at the site. The Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility will process the spent fuel assemblies from reactors 1, 2 and 3, before placing them in double-walled canisters and enclosing them in concrete modules for a minimum period of 100 years. This work is being carried out by the U.S. company Holtec and will cost about 400 million euro ($450 million). The Liquid Radioactive Waste Treatment Plant is fully completed and retrieves highly active liquids from their current storage tanks, processes them into a solid state and moves them into containers for long-term storage.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Our European headquarters are located in Galway, Ireland. Follow IIR Europe on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn For more information on our European coverage send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.eu or visit us online at Industrial Info Europe.
Following a 72-hour trial operation test, the commissioning of the giant dome over the destroyed Reactor 4 marks the end of a decade of safety and reclamation works at the site, which has been largely bank-rolled to the tune of billions of euros from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and 45 donor nations through the Chernobyl Shelter Fund. Erected in 2016, the NSC was the world's largest moveable land-based structure, standing 110-metres tall, 165-metres long and with an arch span of 257 metres, it is big enough to house London's St. Paul's or Paris' Notre Dame cathedrals. The massive steel and concrete arch weighs 36,000 tonnes, and the project represents the largest international collaboration ever in the field of nuclear safety. To date, it has cost in excess of 2.1 billion euro ($2.3 billion). Since installation of the dome--which was constructed by Novarka, a consortium by the French engineering companies Bouygues and Vinci--has allowed for the dismantling of the ageing shelter and management of the radioactive waste within.
Balthasar Lindauer, EBRD director of Nuclear Safety, said: "This is a tremendous success and the result of the outstanding cooperation of all parties involved. We thank our donors for their commitment and our partners for the finalisation of this unique project."
An explosion and fire at the Unit 4 reactor in 1986 killed more than 30 people and forced the permanent evacuation of 200,000 people from the surrounding area. The melted reactor left significant amounts of material containing nuclear fuel in the lower floors of the building. A 30-kilometre "exclusion zone" was imposed then and is still in place.
The EBRD also manages the Nuclear Safety Account which finances two additional decommissioning infrastructure facilities at the site. The Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility will process the spent fuel assemblies from reactors 1, 2 and 3, before placing them in double-walled canisters and enclosing them in concrete modules for a minimum period of 100 years. This work is being carried out by the U.S. company Holtec and will cost about 400 million euro ($450 million). The Liquid Radioactive Waste Treatment Plant is fully completed and retrieves highly active liquids from their current storage tanks, processes them into a solid state and moves them into containers for long-term storage.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Our European headquarters are located in Galway, Ireland. Follow IIR Europe on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn For more information on our European coverage send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.eu or visit us online at Industrial Info Europe.
