New confinement above Chernobyl sarcophagus in 2015

A new safe confinement will be pulled over the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus in 2015, said Alexander Borovoy, Doctor of Physics and Math, counsellor of the president of the Russian research center Kurchatov Institute, during the online conference hosted by the BelTA website on 25 April.

Alexander Borovoy has worked at the Shelter object in Chernobyl for many years. According to the scientist, work is in progress to create a new safe confinement for the damaged nuclear power plant. The confinement represents a metal arc weighing about 30,000 tonnes. It is being assembled to the west of the well-known sarcophagus (aka the Shelter) and will be pulled over the sarcophagus in 2015.

In his words, the Arc will be the largest pulled-over structure in the history of the mankind. The height of the arc will be even slightly bigger than the central span of the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco.

Asked why the Shelter object, which was built in 1986 to cover the damaged fourth power-generating unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, needs yet another cover, Alexander Borovoy said that the data collected by examining the inside and the construction components of the Shelter object by 1989 revealed that the Shelter represents a hazard to the environment (for instance, due to a strong earthquake) and the hazard will grow stronger with time.

Back then the Kurchatov Institute came up with the concept for an extra-long-term and environmentally safe way to safely store fuel. Plans were made to create yet another hermetically sealed solid shell that would completely isolate the outside environment from the radioactive materials still inside the destroyed power-generating unit. At the same time the shell would offer reliable protection for dismantling the unit.

“It has taken 25 years to overcome technical, organizational, and astronomical financial difficulties in order to see the huge structure now rising at the construction site. The arc costs about €1 billion at present. The project is financed by the Chernobyl Shelter Foundation arranged by donor states,” said Alexander Borovoy.

In his words, the Arc boasts not only a large scale but also a complicated internal structure. Mechanisms for dismantling structures and radioactive materials in the Shelter make up a large part of the Arc.

The expert added that in autumn 2013 the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the Russian nuclear power engineering institute NIKIET signed a protocol on prospective research and development initiatives. The initiatives include the preparation of concepts to decommission the first, second, and third power-generating units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, concepts to handle radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, and the monitoring and reinforcement of barriers that prevent the propagation of radioactive substances.