Inaugurated the new giant dome that covers the Chernobyl reactor

The Ukrainian government and European representatives today inaugurated the new metal dome that covers the reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, concluding a process that took two decades and more than 1,500 million euros.

It is the largest mobile metal structure in the world, which completely seals the remains of the fourth reactor of the nuclear power plant where the worst nuclear accident in history took place in 1986. With a height of 108 meters and a weight of 36,000 tons, which could completely cover a cathedral like Notre Dame de Paris, had been installed in 2016 several years late and completed in December 2018.

This new structure will guarantee the security of the site for a century and will allow the dismantling of the protection installed at the end of the Soviet era.

The cost of the works amounted to 1,500 million euros (about 1,700 million dollars), financed by a special fund of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the l '. support from 45 countries. "This is a new step in the transformation of Chernobyl into a safe environment," said the EBRD in a statement.

For his part, the new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky underlined the new direction and announced that he would strengthen the development of the region as a new tourist pole: "We must revive this territory of Ukraine ". Until now, Chernobyl was part of the Ukrainian brand, it is time to change it. "

"Let's stop frightening tourists and turn the exclusion zone into a magnet for science and tourism," said the president, who signed a decree on "development of territories affected by radioactive contamination caused by the disaster at Chernobyl ".