Chernobyl Confinement arch joined together

28 July 2015

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The 'western' and 'eastern' halves of the arch of the New Safe Confinement (NSC) at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine have been joined together, SSE ChNPP, the state company tasked with managing the plant, said on 24 July.

Joining of the western and eastern parts of the arch (Image: ChNPP)

The NSC will make the old Chernobyl shelter and remnants of the damaged reactor of unit 4 safe and environmentally secure. Completion of the project is scheduled for November 2017.

Construction of the NSC is being financed via the Chernobyl Shelter Fund, managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as mandated by the G7 and on behalf of the contributors to the fund. The contract for the unprecedented design and construction project was awarded to the Novarka consortium led by the French construction companies Bouygues and Vinci in 2007.

Installation of the arch started in February 2012, when the first batch of steel structures were placed at the site.

The NSC will eventually rise to a height of 110 metres, will be 165 metres long, have a span of 260 metres and a lifetime of a minimum of 100 years. The arch-shaped structure will weigh more than 30,000 tonnes. Its frame is a huge lattice construction of tubular steel members built on two longitudinal concrete beams.

When completed, the NSC will prevent the release of contaminated material from the present shelter and at the same time protect the structure from external impacts such as extreme weather.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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