"The new safe confinement (NSC) was built to shield the world from what lies beneath it. It sits at the heart of a vast exclusion zone, a radioactive landscape the size of Cyprus, largely abandoned by humanity."
"Inside is the sarcophagus, a grey concrete tomb erected in just 206 days to cover the ruins of reactor No 4, which exploded on 26 April 1986 in the worst nuclear accident to date."
"The NSC was constructed to buy time: to allow the unstable sarcophagus to be dismantled safely over decades, while shielding against the consequences in case it collapses."
"What its funders did not anticipate was a war. Chornobyl was occupied in the first weeks of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, much less a drone strike on the facility three years later."
The new safe confinement (NSC) at Chornobyl is the largest movable steel structure ever built, completed in 2019 at a cost of $2.5 billion. It was designed to shield the world from the radioactive remains of reactor No 4, which exploded in 1986. The NSC allows for the safe dismantling of the unstable sarcophagus over decades. However, unexpected challenges arose with the facility's occupation during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and subsequent drone strikes, compromising its integrity.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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