Friday, August 9, 2019

Chernobyl's 'Sarcophagus' Is Being Taken down Due to Fear of Collapse


August 9, 2019 (interestingengineering.com) The Chernobyl nuclear disaster is the worst power plant disaster in history. Just 2 months after the disaster, roughly 600,000 Soviet cleanup workers were given the deadly task of covering the plant's exposed reactor with a massive 'sarcophagus' encasing. Now, it has emerged that, 33 years later, the sarcophagus has to be dismantled before it collapses. Thankfully, this was known ahead of time and an impressive undertaking in precise engineering is making sure that the existing structure is safely replaced.
The 'sarcophagus' encasing the contaminated site of Chernobyl reactor 4 was made in order to lock in radioactive materials like corium, uranium, and plutonium. It was erected only two months after the disaster occurred on April 26, 1986.

At least 31 of the workers who constructed the encasing died of acute radiation sickness. The danger of the construction zone is partially responsible for the deterioration happening today. Though the covering was made from 400,00 cubic meters of concrete and approximately 16 million pounds of steel, the conditions meant that it was hastily built, leaving the building's joints unsealed, and openings in the ceiling, as Science Alert reports. Now, 33 years later, the covering has to be replaced: SSE Chernobyl NPP, the company that manages the nuclear plant site, has released a statement online saying the probability the structure will collapse is "very high" if it is left in its current state.
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