UNIAN: Poroshenko says safe confinement over Chornobyl to be commissioned in December

By Aisha Down.

Published April 27, 2018 at 4:44 pm

Sergii Obrizan, a hydrologist at EcoCenter, a state radioecology research enterprise, approaches a metal tablet where scientists gather samples. The confinement structure over the closed Chornobyl nuclear power plant is in the background. Japanese and Ukrainian scientists are researching how the area around Chornobyl can be reclaimed for productive uses after the 1986 disaster.

Photo by Kostyantyn Chernichkin

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says contractors who built and installed a new safe confinement (arch) over destroyed power unit No.4 at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) are planning to put it into operation in December 2018.

“This year, we will complete one of the important stages of transformation of the Shelter facility into an environmentally safe system. In December, we are planning to commission the new safe confinement, which was earlier installed,” the president said at a press conference dedicated to the 32nd anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster on April 26, adding that the installation of equipment and systems is being completed along with their adjustment.