Recently in New Safe Confinement Category

According to a May 19 press release, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has agreed to donate 135 million Euros in support of clean up efforts at the Chernobyl Nuclear Facility in northern Ukraine.

The funds appear to be earmarked for support of two key contracts:

• Construction of the New Safe Confinement
• Completion of the Interim Storage Facility-2

As most of you know, the New Safe Confinement will be the replacement for the aging Sarcophagus currently covering the remains of Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl Plant.  The Interim Storage Facility-2 will be used to deal with spent fuel from Chernobyl reactors 1-3.  Contractors are currently working on design and technical details for both projects.  Final designs are scheduled to be submitted to Ukrainian regulators in spring 2009.

The New Safe Confinement is being funded through the Chernobyl Shelter Fund.  Contributing countries include: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, European Community, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Donations have been made by Iceland, Israel, Korea, Portugal, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.

The Interim Storage Facility-2 project is financed by the Nuclear Safety Account.  Belgium, Canada, Denmark, European Community, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States have all contributed to this fund.

Even with the EBRD grant, there is not enough money to complete these projects.  It is hoped that the EBRD grant will be a catalyst for additional financing from donor countries.

Information obtained from May 19, 2008 EBRD Press Release

Another contract was signed on April 3 by the administration of the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station. This contract with the Ukrainian company Yutem («ЮТЭМ») is to perform additional on site work in preparation for construction of the New Safe Confinement (NSC).  The Chief Engineer of this project (POM) is Andrey Savin.

This aim of this venture is to remove all above-ground structures that currently exist within the area that will be affected by NSC construction. Any foundation structures located at the southern and northern extent of the current Sarcophagus will also be removed. Included in this effort will be the removal of the foundation used for the installation and support of the crane used to build the original Sarcophagus in 1986-1987.

Approximately 30 thousand cubic meters of reinforced concrete are expected to be cleared away. If workers encounter any highly radioactive materials during the course of this work, extraction, transport and disposal will be handled by the appropriate divisions of the Chernobyl AES.

Physical work for clearing the area is scheduled to begin in September 2008, with the digging of NSC foundation areas to start in November. All work under this contract is expected to be complete by the end of 2009.

According to the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station's Information Department, by April 25, 2008, 80% of the load carried by beams B1 and B2 in the original Sarcophagus will be transferred to newer external supports. Repairs to the structure's roof are expected to be completed this summer.

Following the completion of the above work, preparations for the physical construction of the base for the New Safe Confinement can begin. Chernobyl Plant Director Igor Gramotkin hopes that work connected with the New Safe Confinement will not only go according to plan, but even proceed ahead of schedule.

The current plan is for physical construction of the New Safe Confinement to begin in April 2009.

Here are two more videos from CBS News covering the 22nd anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster:

Chernobyl's Abandoned City (1:11)



Sealing Chernobyl's Reactor #4 (3:10)

We're closing in on the 22 year anniversary of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in Ukraine. In the next several weeks, I hope to add some new content to the site outside of this blog.

The following 2-minute clip is a report from CBS News regarding the accident and construction of the New Safe Confinement structure:

Ukraine's Ministry of Emergency Measures announced on January 24, 2008 that construction of the New Safe Confinement structure at the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station will begin in earnest this spring.  Minister Volodymyr Shandra said, "I believe that in spring we'll start work to build a safe shelter and the construction of this facility will be completed in 2012."

Ukraine signed a contract with France's Novarka in September 2007 to build a new structure to cover the remains of Reactor 4.  Another deal was also signed with U.S. company Holtec International for the construction of a "dry storage" facility at the Chernobyl pant for spent nuclear fuel.

If you would like to learn more about the planned construction of the New Safe Confinement (NSC) at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant, watch the following video. This short film also discusses how they will de-construct the original Sarcophagus once the NSC is in place. It's some fascinating technology!

Monday, September 17, 2007 -- a day that will be remembered for Ukraine's announcement that they have finally signed a contract for the construction of the New Safe Confinement that will cover damaged Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant.

The French firm Novarka will build the new structure at a cost of $1.4 billion. The project will take five years to complete. It will be constructed of steel, and stand 190 meters (623 feet) tall and 200 meters long.

The same reader (Nikola) from my last post has sent me a set of follow-up questions. This is a long post, but here we go with Part II of the Chernobyl Sarcophagus Q & A (again, questions are in bold):

A reader from Serbia and Montenegro viewed my Chernobyl trip article yesterday and asked some very good questions about the Sarcophagus at the Chernobyl Plant. I answered his questions directly last night and decided this information should be shared with everyone. In some instances, I have restated her questions or slighly embellished my answers.