33 years after the nuclear tragedy, Ukraine has control of Chernobyl

The words "Chernobyl" and the collapse in one sentence have a significant impact. The history of the worst nuclear accident in history is not over yet, but there is not much reason to fear that Ukraine will dismantle the old sarcophagus that covers the explosive reactor of Chernobyl.

Since independence in 1991, the country has taken up the challenge of driving Chernobyl, in what has been a continuous and heroic effort to secure the site. Immediately after the incident of April 26, 1986, Soviet engineers and volunteers from other countries began to work hard to find ways to cover the operated reactor 4 so that it would not be necessary for them. it stops emitting radiation in the air and in the water. underground.

At one point, Valery Legasov, the lead scientist for the recent disaster series at Home Box Office Inc., had 17 different models. In one of the tapes recorded before his suicide in 1988, he indicates that the two main options were to bury the reactor under an artificial hill or to use the remaining walls of the reactor building to erect a new structure with a concrete roof. . The second of these options was won by being the fastest and the cheapest, but it did not work at all as planned.

As fighting and early design continued, helicopters threw all sorts of materials – sand, boron carbide, crushed marble, lead – into the ruins to prevent the spread of radiation. In May 1986, the construction of what would become the sarcophagus began without the builders fully understanding what they should do. It was necessary to examine the existing structures of the building, but no drone or robot could do the work. Dozens of different robots have been tested, but they have been damaged by radiation or stuck in the rubble.

As a result, there was a lot of guesswork and decisions were made on the fly. The 90,000 people who work day and night take a huge risk. It is impossible to determine how many of them died as a result of the mission. Finally, the builders decided not to cover the sarcophagus with a concrete roof because they doubted that the walls were stable enough to support the weight. Instead, the tubes were placed on steel beams and covered with metal sheets. The entire structure, including the roof, was full of holes, covered with asbestos bags filled with fragmented polyethylene, explains Legasov.

The construction was completed at the end of November 1986. The builders put their signatures on the walls, as did the Soviet soldiers at the Berlin Reichstag when they took the city in 1945. It was the size of the victory. But metal beams and pipes were never to work for more than 30 years. It was difficult to determine how long the old walls of the ruined building would remain under the new structure.

The so-called new secure containment – a $ 2.4 billion steel and concrete arch financed by 44 countries and built by a French consortium – was installed on the ruins of Reactor 4 in 2016. However, it is impossible to to know if enough if parts of the shelter, as the old sarcophagus is officially known, collapse. Tons of highly radioactive material are still buried.

The vulnerable parts of the structure were last strengthened in 2008 and are expected to operate until 2023. The The company that runs the former nuclear power plant, the Sse Chernobyl nuclear power plant, has just signed a $ 78 million contract with Ukraine's Ukrbudmontazh, which dismantles the former sarcophagus. The press release on the contract mentions the high probability that some parts of the structure will collapse, a terrifying warning.

Beyond the shocking headlines, securing the station is probably the best managed project by Ukraine as it is an independent state. The country has had a grotesque administration over the last quarter century, but has been honest with the world as to the situation and needs of the season. He worked closely with international experts to determine what needed to be done. It has also set up the so-called Chernobyl Access Fund with the G7 states and the European Union to finance the New Safe Confinement project. The dismantling of the shelter is however funded by the budget of Ukraine.

Although the post-Soviet country has sometimes failed to stop the export of radioactive metals and contaminated products from the exclusion zone around the factory, it has made it all humanly possible to avoid 39, other significant radiation leaks. In every change of government, even the most difficult, it was the priority.

No need to worry for Ukraine. Russia is something else. He also suffered a lot from Chernobyl, especially because he sent hundreds of thousands of people to clean up. Russia should already know, but has not yet learned to speak openly about its own nuclear accidents.