Ukraine still hasn’t adequately covered the fourth power block of Chornobyl’s nuclear power plant still posing a nuclear radiation threat.
CHORNOBYL, Ukraine – In April, Kyiv will host a Twenty-Five Years After The Chornobyl Disaster: Safety for the Future international forum that expects attendance of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon as well as top officials from the European Union, America and Canada.
Ukraine’s government wants money – lots of it. But it is not clear whether the West, worried about corruption, will provide the resources.
Urgent action is needed. Chornobyl experts say that there are still 200 tons of nuclear fuel buried under the wreckage of the exploded block 4 reactor, thus the timely construction of the new shelter is crucial.
General view of the “sarcophagus” covering the destroyed 4th power block of Chornobyl’s nuclear power plant Feb. 27, 2006. (AFP)
A hastily built sarcophagus after the April 26, 1986, accident is crumbling and leaking radiation, despite fixes in 2008 that extended its lifespan.
The budget for building a new one is some $783 million short of the $2 billion needed. Moreover, another $184 million are needed to process nuclear fuel.
However, Western aid to the tune of millions of dollars may have been misspent in the last 25 years.
It’s not a solely Ukraine’s problem. This is the problem of the entire international community.”
– Viktor Baloha, emergencies minister.
To date, for instance, the General Prosecutor’s Office has launched more than 60 investigations into allegedly misspent aid.
At the same time, the Ukrainian government said it doesn’t have the resources to do the job alone.
“It’s not a solely Ukraine’s problem,” Emergencies Minister Viktor Baloha said on Dec. 12. “This is the problem of the entire international community.”
Baloha said he expects Western democracies to come up with the money to finish construction of a new containment cover by 2015.
However, the project has a history of delays.
In 2007, Ukraine signed a deal with France based Novarka consortium, which was supposed to build the protective shield over the destroyed reactor in 4-5 years. Then-President Viktor Yushchenko asked in October 2009: “Why is there an empty [construction] site today?”
By September 2010, Novarka had started embedding metal pillars that would support the arch components over the damaged block 4 reactor.
The new safe confinement is designed as a 108-meter tall and 150-meter long arch that looks like a huge airplane hangar.
Most of the money for containment of the radioactive waste is coming from the European Union, while Ukraine contributed $6.2 million in 2010.
Aside from the containment, people who still reside in contaminated areas near the plant also still face high levels of poverty and limited employment opportunities.
Look how people lived here [before the 1986 explosion]: this city used to have a perfect infrastructure, high quality buildings and great schools, people who worked there had prestigious and well paid jobs. Then one day they lost everything.”
– Alla Aksionova, a correspondent of “Chornobyl Bulletin”.
Walking the streets of the ghost town Pripyat, Alla Aksionova, a correspondent of “Chornobyl Bulletin” recalls what the life looked like there 25 years ago.
“Look how people lived here [before the 1986 explosion]: this city used to have a perfect infrastructure, high quality buildings and great schools, people who worked there had prestigious and well paid jobs” Akionova said. “Then one day they lost everything.”
The town that used to be Chornobyl satellite during the Soviet times is a place of ruins where wild animals from the nearby forests roam.
Pripyat belongs to the first contamination zone (Chornobyl’s 30 kilometer radius) and still remains too contaminated to be revived.
But the other, outer zones can be revived and reintegrated into normal life, but not without international aid.
One of the key donors sponsoring social projects is the United Nations Development Program, which has donated $4 million since 2002 for treating the consequences of Chornobyl disaster.
The UNDP projects are meant to unleash the economic potential and rebuild social infrastructure in towns and villages that belong to the second, third and, especially, forth zone.
Helen Clark, the UNDP administrator who visited Chornobyl Dec.12, underlined the necessity for monitoring of contamination in the radiation affected areas and open the area for safe life when it’s time.
“Safety is a priority” Clark said. “When there is safety there is a potential for economic development. I hope this region will be back to normal life one day. It’s the Ukrainian government and local communities who will define the revitalization measures and the UN will be there to help.”
Meanwhile, some 3,500 people still work at the station that stopped generating electricity and closed in 2000. They live in the town of Slavutych and commute to Chornobyl daily.
Kyiv Post staff writer Olesia Oleshko can be reached at [email protected].
