Face of Nation : The Ukraine has revealed a giant new structure built to confine radioactive debris at the nuclear reactor that exploded in Chernobyl in 1986.
The massive confinement dome for the nuclear power plant’s Reactor No. 4 cost 1.5 billion euros (almost $A2.44 billion) to build, and the entire project cost 2.2 billion euros ($A3.59 billion).
The complex construction effort — which aims to secure the molten reactor’s core and 181 tonnes of highly radioactive material — took nine years to complete.
Officials have described the shelter as the largest movable land-based structure ever built, with a span of 257 metres and a total weight of more than 36,000 tonnes.
It comes after the success of the hit HBO show Chernobyl, which has since become the top rated show ever on IMDb, passing Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones with a near perfect rating of 9.7.
The five-part mini series, which is available to stream on Foxtel, is based on the real life events of the catastrophic nuclear disaster in northern Ukrainian SSR.
Starring Jared Harris and Emily Watson, it follows the ensuing destruction from the event, as residents suffer short and long term radiation poisoning, as well as the political fallout with the Soviet Union government and their dodgy attempts to conceal the extent of the incident.
The series has also boosted tourism in the town by a whopping 40 per cent, with people flocking to visit the area that has become famous — or infamous rather — in the wake of the show.
Reactor No. 4 at the plant in what was then Soviet Ukraine exploded and burned on April 26, 1986, spewing radioactive dust across Europe in the world’s worst nuclear accident.
Thirty workers died either from the explosion or from acute radiation sickness within several months.
About 600,000 people had exposure to radiation at elevated levels while fighting the fire at the plant or working to clean up the contamination.
The accident exposed millions in the region to dangerous levels of radiation and forced a permanent evacuation of about 350,000 people from hundreds of towns and villages in Ukraine and Belarus.
The disaster’s eventual death toll has been subject to speculation and dispute, but the World Health Organisation’s cancer research arm has estimated 9000 people were to die of exposure-related cancer and leukaemia if Chernobyl disaster’s health effects follow a similar pattern to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings.
The New Safe Confinement structure was designed to safeguard radioactive debris and prevent further crumbling of the reactor. A section of the machine hall collapsed in 2012.
To finance the containment structure, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development managed a fund with contributions from 45 countries, the European Union and the bank’s own resources. Ukraine contributed 100 million euros (about $A160 million).
Deputy project manager Victor Zalizetskyi, who has been part of construction and repairs at the Chernobyl plant since 1987, said he was “filled with pride” that he got to work on a job “that has such a big importance for all humankind”.
However, Mr Zalizetskyi expressed concern in an interview last week that war-torn Ukraine might struggle to cover the maintenance costs for the reactor’s new enclosure.
He noted costly and complicated work such as dismantling unstable sections of the power plant still needed to be done.
“It looks like Ukraine will be left alone to deal with this structure,” he said. “The work is not done yet, and we need to think about how to finance this project in the future.”
Mr Zalizetskyi promised Ukraine would offer broader access to Chernobyl to scientists, environmental experts and tourists.
