The capping of the Shelter Object over the Unit 4 of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, destroyed in the nuclear disaster of April 26, 1986, with the New Safe Confinement is completed. On this occasion a formal celebration was held on the construction site of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, with the participation of Ukraine’s top government figures, international donors, and partners in the implementation of this large-scale project. The new capping allows to start the dismantling of constructions and to withdraw and process the fuel-carrying and radioactive materials.
Ukraine’s president congratulated everyone on this truly historical event, as the New Safe Confinement will allow to keep Ukraine and the world safe from nuclear hazard. “Thirty years ago Chornobyl became the site of the world’s largest human-made disaster. Thirty years ago dozen hundreds heroic rescue workers did everything to protect the world from nuclear danger. In 260 days of heroic effort, a team of 90,000 Chornobyl relief workers built a containment with a service life of precisely 30 years. It was meant to protect Kyiv, Ukraine, and the world from nuclear contamination. Now, 30 years later, we are standing a hundred yards off Unit 4, as a historical construction project is being completed,” said Petro Poroshenko in his speech.
The president called the new confinement a unique construction, which required joint effort of 28 donor nations, besides Ukraine, which had accumulated over 1,417,000,000 euro; 10,000 workers across the world were involved in the project. A total of 40 countries participated in the construction. “Some compared this facility with the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty. It is a unique building indeed, 110 meter high, 257 meter wide, and 164 meter long. This is the world’s largest moveable construction ever built by man,” emphasized the president.
The New Safe Confinement was built by the French concern Novarka and by Ukrainian experts. The facility’s service life is 100 years.
