Chernobyl: June 2008 Archives
The “stabilization” consortium led by joint-stock company Atomstroyexport has completed work on the transfer of load from the roof the Sarcophagus to external support structures.
The transfer of 80% of the roof load above Reactor 4’s destroyed central hall from beams B1 and B2 to the external supports has increased the safety of the Sarcophagus. The work was completed in complex radiation conditions at appropriate levels of safety for the construction personnel, as established by the project contract.
Additional work is expected to begin in the near future.
The transfer of 80% of the roof load above Reactor 4’s destroyed central hall from beams B1 and B2 to the external supports has increased the safety of the Sarcophagus. The work was completed in complex radiation conditions at appropriate levels of safety for the construction personnel, as established by the project contract.
Additional work is expected to begin in the near future.
New reports indicate that up to 100 tons of scrap metal are removed from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone every day. Approximately half this amount is legally removed by the government, but the other half is smuggled out to the rest of the world.
Thieves who were caught by the Ukrainian Security Service in May apparently had been operating under the guise of being Security Service personnel. This allowed them to operate undetected for such a long time.
According to the Union of Liquidators of the Accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, over the past two years criminal groups have removed nearly 80,000 tons of ferrous and nonferrous metal from the Zone. Estimates place the remaining amount of scrap metal in the Zone at approximately 1.5 million tons with an estimated value of one billion Ukrainian Hryvnia, or roughly $222,000,000 US.
Well, if you ever wondered why criminals would risk their health to steal scrap metal from the Zone, now you know why.
Thieves who were caught by the Ukrainian Security Service in May apparently had been operating under the guise of being Security Service personnel. This allowed them to operate undetected for such a long time.
According to the Union of Liquidators of the Accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, over the past two years criminal groups have removed nearly 80,000 tons of ferrous and nonferrous metal from the Zone. Estimates place the remaining amount of scrap metal in the Zone at approximately 1.5 million tons with an estimated value of one billion Ukrainian Hryvnia, or roughly $222,000,000 US.
Well, if you ever wondered why criminals would risk their health to steal scrap metal from the Zone, now you know why.
Ukraine's Ministry of Emergency Measures plans to carry out an experiment by bringing bison into the 30 km Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Minister Volodomyr Shandra stated at a recent press conference that there is a clean region in the Zone in which they can create wilderness areas. The government will build enclosures in one of these areas to contain the bison population.I don't understand what is to be gained by this action. We already know from the Zone's multitude of existing wildlife that animals can survive there. What kind of meaningful information can we possibly learn from importing bison into the Zone?
Photo: Henryk Kotowski
Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko has ordered the mass demolition of approximately 20,000 Soviet-era monuments throughout the country. This program is part of the commemoration of the Holodomor, the great famine of 1932-33. The Ukrainian government claims the famine was orchestrated by the Bolsheviks, targeting Ukrainian nationals. Yushchenko wants to cleanse Ukraine from symbols of the former totalitarian Soviet regime. Apparently five areas of western Ukraine have already completed the dismantling of such monuments.Vassily Vovkun, Ukraine's Minister of Culture and Tourism, has suggested that these Soviet-era monuments should be taken to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, where they would be placed in a new museum that would be open for driving tours.
I wish I knew why Vovkun wants these monuments dumped in the Chernobyl Zone. Perhaps he views Chernobyl as a quintessential symbol of Soviet failure and would therefore be the perfect home for these monuments.
But why does he want to create a drive-through museum in the Zone? Has he forgotten that the Exclusion Zone is a controlled area? People need permission to enter and are required to be escorted by a guide. Currently, the cost for preparation of the permission documents and guide for one day is approximately $85, and that does not include transportation costs.
Hopefully Vovkun is not considering this as a money-making enterprise for Ukraine, because people will not want to spend that kind of money to see a bunch of Soviet-era monuments. Not only that, I'm guessing that most people are afraid to enter the Zone due to fears of radiation, so this museum would not get many visitors. I'm also willing to go out on a limb and say that people who do travel to the Zone are not going there just to see a museum of Soviet-era monuments. Some may drive through out of curiosity, but it will not be the primary focus of anyone's visit.
