Thirty years after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, there’s still a significant threat of radiation from the crumbling remains of Reactor 4. But an innovative, 1.5 billion euros super-structure is being built to prevent further releases, giving an elegant engineering solution to one of the ugliest disasters known to man.
Since the disaster that directly killed at least 31 people and released large quantities of radiation, the reactor has been encased in a tomb of steel-reinforced concrete. Usually buildings of this kind can be protected from corrosion and environmental damage through regular maintenance. But because of the hundreds of tons of highly radioactive material inside the structure, maintenance hasn’t been possible.
Water dripping from the sarcophagus roof has become radioactive and leaks into the soil on the reactor floor, birds have been sighted in the roof space. Every day, the risk of the sarcophagus collapsing increases, along with the risk of another widespread release of radioactivity to the environment.
