Chernobyl: new "safe" confinement over the reactor #4 on its way - Incredible arc-shaped structure

Hopefully, the world will not have to pay for the same confinement structure in Fukusima... Time will tell.

Governments from around the world today pledged $785m (€550m) to seal the stricken nuclear reactor at Chernobyl within a 20,000-tonne steel shield that would be large enough to enclose St Paul's Cathedral in London. The huge arch is designed to prevent any further radiation from escaping for 100 years. The pledges, made at a conference in Kiev ahead of the 25th anniversary of the disaster on 26 April 2011, bring the total raised for the Chernobyl safety works to $1.8bn and will enable efforts to finally secure the reactor which caught fire in April 1986. Twenty-eight governments have so far offered money. The European commission was the biggest contributor with €110m. The US pledged €86m and Britain – which still has more than 300 hill farms in Wales under radiation restrictions following fallout from Chernobyl – will contribute €35m. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced an extra €120m. Japan, Italy and Canada are considering whether to contribute to the fund.

SOURCE


This video shows it all

The arc-shaped structure will culminated at 190 meters (623 feet) wide and more than 100 meters tall. It will take five years to built it...

The old sarcophagus, technically known as the Shelter Object, was made of more than 7,000 metric tons of metal and 400,000 cubic meters of concrete.
Now, to safely enclose this ailing sarcophagus, the French consortium Novarka is working on a replacement: the New Safe Confinement, a steel structure 110 meters high at its tallest point, 164 meters wide, spanning across 257 meters and weighing more than 29,000 metric tons. In comparison, the Statue of Liberty from the ground to the tip of its torch is about 93 meters high.

Well I guess we have one thing to be thankful of in regards to Fukushima. The sarcophagus should have been replaced a decade ago and we have been very lucky the damn thing didn't fall sending a radioactive dust cloud everywhere. The sarcophagus didn't even need to fall for a major accident to happen, the reactor lid is sitting unstably and could fall at any time which would also create a major cloud of fallout.

I'm sure if Fukushima never happend this would also have never happend. Damn governments take us to the edge of oblivion before they will spend a dime on our safety.

reply to post by elevenaugust

That's nice of countries around the world to contribute to it.Russia makes a badly built facility with sub-par containment, and the rest of the world has to pay?

Regarding the video, it's very detailed, I've never seen such a detailed explanation of the construction methods planned for a new building.

Use of an erection area to keep workers away from the primary radiation site as much as possible is a good idea.

I wouldn't have guessed that thing will be taller than the statue of liberty, and so wide too! It's HUGE!

The world is already paying. Do you really value money more than the health of our planet and its creatures? Something like this should have been done a long time ago and every developed nations should have been working hand in hand to remedy the problem since day 1. Unfortunately this world does not work this way, and instead people ask why should the rest of the world should have to pony up the cash to help solve one of the worst man-made ecological disasters(accidental) that we have ever seen as a race (not counting fukushima as it may be 6x worse), because $$$ is what really matters right?


I shudder to think how long it will take to get Fukushima under wraps and really hope its not going to be on the 100 years timescale predicted.

"Work will begin with cleaning and clearing the erection area."

I like this video already.