May 2009 Archives
The following is a short video shot in the now abandoned village of Starye Sheplichi (Old Sheplichi) in Ukraine's Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The village is located several kilometers northeast of Pripyat:
Video by: www.chornobyl.in.ua/en/
Video by: www.chornobyl.in.ua/en/
On May 14, 2009, a fire broke out in Unit 1 of Ukraine's Rivne Nuclear Power Plant. Personnel from the Rivne Plant were able to extinguish the blaze themselves. The reactor unit was shutdown for routine maintenance and repairs at the time of the incident.Some sources reported the incident as only a build-up of smoke, not an actual fire. The incident occurred as the result of a short circuited wire in a storage room at the facility's Reactor Unit 1.
The affected unit is a VVER 440/213 reactor with net output of 361 MWe and started commercial operations in September 1981.
Reactor 1 at Rivne NPP was shutdown in June 2008 because of leakage within the containment vessel. The leak reportedly did not exceed operational limits.
The Ministry of Emergency Measures reported the radiation and ecology at the Rivne Plant and surrounding areas were not affected. Reactor units 2, 3 and 4 are still operational.
Of similar interest, Rivne NPP's Reactor 3 was temporarily shutdown on May 4, 2009 to repair reported malfunctions.
A May 2009 scientific expedition captured video of an owlet inhabiting a forest in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone:
Video courtesy of http://www.chornobyl.in.ua/
Video courtesy of http://www.chornobyl.in.ua/
The International Advisory Group ICG has reviewed materials prepared by contractors for Chernobyl's New Safe Confinement and identified risk factors for the possibility of those contractors falling behind schedule and associated cost increases as the most serious risks to the project.
ICG is happy with a new paper on security within the framework of the project (DBCP) as an effective substitute for the preliminary safety analysis report (POAB). This document could be extremely useful for Ukrainian regulatory bodies, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant administration, contractors and the bank.
The DBCP is based on information developed by Novarka at its early stages as the project contractor and provides a functional specification of the New Safe Confinement including:
ICG is happy with a new paper on security within the framework of the project (DBCP) as an effective substitute for the preliminary safety analysis report (POAB). This document could be extremely useful for Ukrainian regulatory bodies, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant administration, contractors and the bank.
The DBCP is based on information developed by Novarka at its early stages as the project contractor and provides a functional specification of the New Safe Confinement including:
- A list of the SC-1 NSC structures, buildings, major components, systems, communications, etc.
- A description of the specific functions of each NSC component from the above item
- Systematic design criteria and requirements including additional criteria and benchmarks obtained through research and the design process
- Analysis of regulatory and legal frameworks applicable to the NSC design
- Methodology and approach of the contractor to implement the design criteria and requirements
- Design procedures and rationale for project licensing where parts of the project are reviewed by regulatory agencies, including the main building (foundations, arch, cranes, edging) and the NSC complex as a whole (life-support systems and control of the NSC)
- Cleaning the site to build the arch and its mounting systems
- Dismantling the ventilation tube BT-2
- Construction of infrastructure facilities
- Construction of temporary bases
- Information on main technical and constructive solutions for the NSC, based on Novarka proposals
The following video was recently shot in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. It shows a pack of wild dogs chasing wild boar. The incident took place approximately one kilometer from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
Last week I wrote about Michael Forster Rothbart's new photo exhibit in Kyiv titled "Inside Chernobyl: life goes on."
Yesterday, Global Comment editor Natalia Antonova posted an interesting interview with Forster Rothbart. The discussion looks into how the project developed, how it is different than other Chernobyl photographic works, the distinctions between urban and rural Ukraine and misconceptions about Chernobyl.
Take a few minutes and read this enlightening interview.
"Inside Chernobyl: life goes on" should be making its way to Slavutych, Moscow and Washington, D.C. later this year.
Yesterday, Global Comment editor Natalia Antonova posted an interesting interview with Forster Rothbart. The discussion looks into how the project developed, how it is different than other Chernobyl photographic works, the distinctions between urban and rural Ukraine and misconceptions about Chernobyl.
Take a few minutes and read this enlightening interview.
"Inside Chernobyl: life goes on" should be making its way to Slavutych, Moscow and Washington, D.C. later this year.
