How Chernobyl’s protective shield designed for 100 years no longer guarantees full radiation safety

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After a recent inspection, the IAEA reported this Sunday in a statement that The New Safe Confinement (NSC) at Chernobyl “has lost its primary safety functions, including the confinement capacity” of radioactive material. He confirmed that the February attack caused a fire and damaged the protective coating around it.

Even so, the IAEA He highlighted that the structural support elements and the roof monitoring systems did not suffer “permanent damage.”

Besides, No radioactive leaks have been detected so far. nor an appreciable increase in radiation.

The IAEA called for a comprehensive restoration as soon as possible, since the temporary repairs carried out are not enough to guarantee long-term safety.

He added that additional temporary repairs have been planned with the support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with the goal that “a complete restoration can be carried out once the conflict ends” with Russia.

He also suggested improving monitoring systems, including corrosion and moisture monitoring, to ensure the structure fulfills its protective function.

A monumental work of engineering

He New Safe Confinement of Chernobyl It is a colossal structure of steel arch-shaped, considered the largest of its kind in the world, which was built to enclose reactor 4 that exploded in 1986 and isolate its radioactive remains for at least 100 years.

This large structure was installed in 2016 and inaugurated in 2019.

With 108 meters high, 257 meters wide and 165 meters longand weighing more than 36,000 tons, this mega-work of engineering stands on reinforced concrete foundations and It is made of steel specially treated against corrosion and radiation.

Designed to withstand earthquakes, tornadoes, extreme temperatures and the passage of time, the NSC integrates air filtration systems, permanent radiation monitoring and two huge robotic cranes capable of operating remotely, minimizing human exposure.

It was assembled about 300 meters from the reactor and then slid on rails to its final position in 2016, in an unprecedented operation that was financed by more than 40 countries and coordinated by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, with the aim of converting one of the most dangerous places on the planet into a controlled and contained zone.

Its cost was approximately 2.1 billion euros.

Under the protective sarcophagus there are approximately 200 tons of radioactive material.

Also remnants of molten nuclear fuelknown as corium, highly contaminated rubble, and the old Soviet sarcophagus, which is deteriorated.

All of this material is still highly dangerous and will be for thousands of years.

The 1986 disaster

He April 26, 1986Chernobyl was the scene of the worst nuclear accident in civil history. It happened in the reactor 4 of the plant, located in the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (in what is now Ukraine), during a poorly executed security test and under serious design flaws.

On the night of the accident, operators were trying to check if the reactor could continue generating power in the event of a power outage.

During the experiment, key security systems were disabled and the reactor became unstable. There was a sudden increase in powerfollowed by two explosions that destroyed the reactor building. The core was exposed to the air, releasing enormous amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere for several days.

Some 31 workers and firefighters died immediately and in the weeks afterward because they were exposed to extreme levels of radiation.

More than 350,000 people They were evacuated from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.

The nearby city of Pripyatwith almost 50,000 inhabitants, was completely abandoned.

A radioactive cloud spread over much of Europe.

Thousands of soldiers, engineers, miners and volunteers participated in containing the disaster. They were called “liquidators”.

The USSR quickly built a concrete sarcophagus to cover the damaged reactor. That sarcophagus was replaced by the New Safe Confinement.

In the long term, the nuclear accident Chernobyl caused an increase in cases of thyroid cancer in exposed areas, especially in children. Large tracts of land were left uninhabitable for decades or centuries. The call 30 km exclusion zone continues to exist until today.

Furthermore, the accident accelerated changes in the world nuclear policy and contributed to the final wear and tear of the Soviet system, which ended up collapsing in December 1991.

There is no single, agreed upon figure for how many people died in the years following the disaster. A joint report of the UN, IAEA and WHO from 2005–2006 estimated that up to 4,000 additional deaths from cancer in the long term among the most exposed populations, such as liquidators, evacuees and inhabitants of contaminated areas.

Some alternative studies raise the figure to between 16,000 and more than 90,000 deaths potential for cancer in subsequent decades throughout Europe.