Sarcophagus: August 2007 Archives

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.

At the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in Ukraine, work has begun on a new containment structure that will cover the remains of Reactor 4, which was destroyed in the 1986 accident. Construction of the "New Safe Confinement" (NSC), will occur a short distance from the reactor building and then slid into place on rails when complete. Once the dome-shaped structure is in place, the original Sarcophagus will be dismantled to prevent a possible collapse and subsequent damage to the NSC's interior.

The NSC has been designed to last for 100 years, much more than the 20 year estimate for the existing Sarcophagus (that has now been in place for 21 years). When construction and placement of the NSC is complete, let's not forget about it because in several generations the NSC itself will need to be replaced.

A building already exists on site for NSC workers to change clothes. Interviews are now taking place to screen potential workers for the New Safe Confinement.

You can also see a brief film about the screening process here.