The structure itself cost £1.5 billion and the entire shelter project cost £2.2 billion (Picture: Getty)

A new structure built to confine the Chernobyl reactor at the centre of the world’s worst nuclear disaster was previewed for the media yesterday.

Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine exploded and burned April 26, 1986.

The complex construction effort to secure the molten reactor’s core and 200 tons of highly radioactive material has taken nine years to complete under the control of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The structure itself cost £1.5 billion and the entire shelter project cost £2.2 billion.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development managed a fund with contributions from 45 countries, the European Union and £715 million in the bank’s own resources.

A new structure built to confine the Chernobyl reactor at the centre of the world’s worst nuclear disaster was previewed for the media yesterday (Picture: Getty)

Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine exploded and burned April 26, 1986 (Picture: Getty)

The complex construction effort to secure the molten reactor’s core and 200 tons of highly radioactive material has taken nine years (Picture: Getty)

It was completed under the control of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (Picture: Getty)

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development managed a fund with contributions (Picture: Getty)

Contributions came from 45 countries, the European Union and £715 million in the bank’s own resources (Picture: Getty)

Inside the control room for the ‘New Safe Confinement’ at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (Picture: Getty)

The shelter is the largest movable land-based structure ever built, with a span of 257 meters (843 feet) and a total weight of over 36,000 tonnes.

‘This was a very long project,’ said Balthasar Lindauer, director of the bank’s Nuclear Safety Department.

He noted that preliminary studies began in 1998 and the contract for the structure was placed in 2007.

The shelter is the largest movable land-based structure ever built, with a span of 257 meters (843 feet) and a total weight of over 36,000 tonnes (Picture: Getty)

‘This was a very long project,’ said Balthasar Lindauer, director of the bank’s Nuclear Safety Department (Picture: Getty)

He noted that preliminary studies began in 1998 and the contract for the structure was placed in 2007 (Picture: Getty)

A view inside the ‘New Safe Confinement’ of the old sarcophagus entombing the destroyed reactor number four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (Picture: Getty)

The power station’s reactor number four exploded in April 1986, showering radiation over the local area (Picture: Getty)

Workers at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (Picture: Getty)

A model of the destroyed reactor number four (Picture: Getty)

Journalists were invited to view the new safe confinement shelter ahead of the handover to Ukrainian authorities (Picture: Getty)

He said Ukraine was a big contributor, contributing €100 million in cash along with expertise and personnel.

Journalists were invited to view the new safe confinement shelter ahead of the handover to Ukrainian authorities.