Vast New Tomb Now Covers The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster Site (slashdot.org)

The final stage of the Chernobyl clean-up took over 20 years to build -- and will seal up the site for the next 100 years. Slashdot reader MrKaos writes: 30 years and seven months since the explosion...the project known as the 'Shelter Implementation Plan' has been rolled into place, sealing the crippled Chernobyl reactor. More than 10,000 people were involved in the project, which includes an advanced ventilation systems and remote controlled robotic cranes to dismantle the existing Soviet-built structure and reactor. This sarcophagus -- or New Safe Confinement -- is taller than the Statue of Liberty and larger than Wembley stadium.
Over one million people worked on the initial clean-up, the BBC reports, calling this new sarcophagus "the largest object people have ever moved," and its installation was apparently pretty surreal. "World leaders jostle with global executives and anonymous men dressed in full camouflage as platters of shrimp, foie gras and cheesecake are passed around by white-gloved staff...just 330 feet away from the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history."

Comments

Documentary

[Joce640k]

The BBS did an excellent documentary on this last week, well worth watching:

https://thepiratebay.org/torre...

Re:Kicking the can down the road..

[Joce640k]

Isn;t this really just making a bigger headache for the people that have to deal with this in 100 years time?

No.

The original sarcophagus is falling apart. It was built by people who could only stay in the zone for a few minutes at a time and has no welds, bolts, or anything else. It's basically just a big pile of heavy stuff on top of the reactor.

Something has to be done. Now.

This new dome has plenty of space inside it and lots of cranes and robots built-in to dismantle the old stuff. When it's finished work a few years from now there will be easy access to the reactor, lots of space, and many years left over to think about what to do next.