27 Nov (NucNet): The first lifting stage of the New Safe Confinement (NSC) structure at Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear plant has been successfully completed, it was announced today.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which acts as administrator of the Chernobyl Shelter Fund, said the achievement was a major step for the NSC project and “a significant milestone”.
The NSC is costing about one billion euro (1.2 billion US dollars) and should be completed by 2015, although this is still “a very ambitious and demanding schedule”, the EBRD said.
When completed, the arched NSC will be slid over the original sarcophagus structure built soon after the 1986 accident to encase the destroyed unit four.
Vince Novak, the EBRD’s director for nuclear safety, said the jacking operation to complete the first stage of lifting was one of the most crucial phases of the whole NSC construction process.
He said progress on the NSC had been excellent and the EBRD was “very encouraged” by the work that had been achieved.
Mr Novak said everyone involved with the project would have to perform “with excellence” if the NSC is to be completed on time and within the cost parameters.
When fully assembled the NSC will have a span of 257 metres, a length of 164 metres, a height of 110 metres and a weight of 29,000 tonnes.
During the initial lifting operation around 5,000 tonnes of steel was raised to a preliminary height of up to 22 metres.
The EBRD said the successful completion of the NSC will both significantly reduce the risk of further radiological contamination, and provide equipment and facilities to address the challenges of long-term deconstruction of the sarcophagus and its inventory.
The NSC contract is funded through contributions by more than 40 donor nations to the EBRD Chernobyl Shelter Fund. The fund is expected to disburse around EUR 1.54 billion in support of the Shelter Implementation Plan, about two-thirds of which will be needed for the NSC.
Mr Novak said donors had pledged the full amount and this amount “is still sufficient to complete the project”. But he said “we cannot afford any delays or any performances that are below a “very, very high standard”.
The Chernobyl Shelter Fund was established in December 1997 by the G-7 and other contributing countries to help Ukraine transform the existing Chernobyl sarcophagus into “a safe and environmentally stable system”, the EBRD said.
Since 2009 the EBRD has been the largest contributor to the Chernobyl funds, having pledged EUR 325 million towards key projects at the site.
The NSC is part of the task of making the destroyed Unit 4 environmentally safe. The second major task at Chernobyl is to safely and securely store the spent nuclear fuel from reactors 1, 2 and 3, the EBRD said.
For more information:
www.ebrd.com/pages/news/features/ebrd-and-chernobyl.shtml
