Chornobyl’s legacy is far from over, 29 years later. Besides the still-incalculable human toll of early cancer and other premature deaths attributed to the heavy radioactive fallout, the world must still close an €85 million funding gap to build a new protective structure to cover the destroyed reactor 4.
The initial concrete shelter that was hastily built over the reactor in 1986 is aging. The new one under construction at the closed power plant is designed to contain the radiation for at least 100 years. The goal is to complete construction by 2017. The world moved €180 million closer to the goal at an international donor conference in London on April 29. At least 30 operators and firefighters were killed within the first three months of the April 26, 1986, explosion. The disaster forced the evacuation of 200,000 people and the creation of a 30-kilometer exclusion zone, where 5,000 people still live and work. The steam explosion took place during a stress test that went wrong due to design flaws and neglected safety rules, triggering the release of massive amounts of radiation across Europe. The reactor crew caused the accident by conducting a test on April 25 to determine how long turbines would spin and supply power to circulating pumps following a loss of the main electrical power supply.
