It has been two years since a giant steel shelter was slid into position over Chernobyl's crumbling radioactive ruins. The New Safe Confinement (NSC) was deployed in November 2016 to contain radiation from doomed the nuclear power plant for 100 years. RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service takes a rare look at operations inside of the containment two years on.
Under The Shield: Inside Chernobyl's New Safe Confinement
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The New Safe Confinement (NSC) was designed to prevent further radiation leaks from Ukraine's stricken Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It took two weeks in November 2016 to slide the massive steel structure into position. At a height of 109 meters and a length of 257 meters, the shield is the world’s largest movable metal structure. It covers the crumbling concrete sarcophagus that encased Chernobyl's reactor number four where an explosion in April 1986 spewed tons of radiation across Europe.
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A new steel structure was built under the containment shield to support the decaying concrete sarcophagus in Chernobyl's reactor number four. Eventually, officials plan to dismantle the sarcophagus and remove the remaining nuclear fuel from the plant.
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Two nuclear containment specialists inside the main control center at the New Safe Confinement (NSC). Some 3,000 people work at the site, including several foreign specialists.
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Workers at Chernobyl's New Safe Confinement (NSC) inspect new equipment. Two years after the structure was put into position, containment systems are still being installed and tested. The cost of the shield was almost $1.6 billion, with funding coming from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
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