Sarcophagus of Chernobyl NPP - a monument to the courage of the liquidators of the accident

The catastrophe that occurred in April 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant required a whole complex of emergency measures to ensure that the radiation could not spread to the maximum distance and harm a huge number of people. The work carried out by people can be equated with a justifiable basis to heroic, and they themselves learned about the danger looming over them, much later. A symbol of the courage of all rescuers was the sarcophagus of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, installed over the ill-fated fourth power unit.

In the scanty news bulletins of that period it was said that above the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl NPP, where the accident occurred, a special shelter was installed, including a variety of structures, the main purpose of which is to protect the environment from ionizing radiation. Almost immediately ordinary rescuers and leaders began to call this shelter not otherwise than the sarcophagus of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Photos and documents of that time show that the work was carried out around the clock, they involved tens of thousands of workers. At the first stage, a powerful reinforced concrete fence was built, which protected the fourth power unit from the surrounding space. Then, under the mortar of concrete, everything that was left inside the shelter, including boxes with radioactive waste, was buried . As for the roof, at first 27 metal pipes were laid over the walls, on which the corrugated sheets were laid. All these operations were accompanied by the removal of contaminated soil and analysis of debris. The sarcophagus of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was ready.

Since the acceptance of the shelter by the technical commission, more than twenty-five years have passed. All this time, the construction was closely monitored, during which not only the level of radiation was assessed , but also the strength of the structure. Despite the closest attention on the part of the international community, in February 2013 the sarcophagus of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant could not stand the pressure, which had a powerful snow cover on it, and partially collapsed. Immediately in all world media there were reports of a real threat of radiation contamination of a significant part of Europe.

However, almost immediately the Ukrainian engineers following the shelter of the fourth power unit denied information about a possible threat. According to them, a significant part of the design remained intact, and the roof collapsed over the engine room, where the radiation level did not exceed the permissible values. Be that as it may, discussions began about the need to build a new sarcophagus of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in order to reduce all real and potential hazards to a minimum.

In principle, work on the construction of a new shelter began a few years ago, but they are very slow because of a lack of funding and high requirements for carrying out certain operations. At present, the pace of work has increased, as it became known that the service life of the old sarcophagus does not exceed thirty years. Consequently, the new design should be ready by 2016.

The sarcophagus of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has become a real monument to the courage of people who dealt with the consequences of the accident, but even the most reliable facilities require replacement.