Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus (Shelter Object)
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April 28, 1986 speaker of the program "Vremya" ("Time") read the first official TASS report: "At the Chernobyl nuclear power plant an accident occured. One of the reactors was damaged. Measures are being taken to eliminate the consequences of the incident. Victims are getting necessary assistance. A government gathered commission will investigate the incident".
The first months following the Chernobyl disaster were similar to war, with chaos and mess, cowardice and heroism. None of the firefighters refused to go into the fire, although they had only overalls, gloves, hard hats and gas masks, which were removed in the first few minutes because of the high temperature. The burning roof of the reactor was filled with bitumen, and the fire could possibly spread to the third operating reactor. In that case the consequences would be even more disastrous. All firefighters died and about 800 000 people from all around the huge country began to move to Pripyat to help. Many of them came for a few days, got the maximum allowed radiation dose and went back to their homes.
The best helicopter pilots from Afghanistan came and fought the fire in the reactor with sand. Thousands of miners and metro workers dug a 150-meter tunnel under the reactor to place refrigerators with liquid nitrogen to reduce the temperature of the reactor. The tunnel was then filled with concrete. The soldiers had to throw pieces of the radioactive material from the roof to the reactor, but just a few minutes of this work was enough to get the dose of the radiation.
The decision to make the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus was made in one month and the commission to investigate the incident chose the best of 18 options. In all, 90 000 workers participated in the construction, and it was finished very quickly – in 206 days. The sarcophagus's walls go 35 meters under the ground (so nothing could fall into the river) and covers about 5,000 tons of radioactive materials. There was the possibility nuclear fuel re-heating, and in this case, the sarcophagus might not have survived. The first shelter object was built to last 20-25 years and now the second shelter is nearly finished.
The first months following the Chernobyl disaster were similar to war, with chaos and mess, cowardice and heroism. None of the firefighters refused to go into the fire, although they had only overalls, gloves, hard hats and gas masks, which were removed in the first few minutes because of the high temperature. The burning roof of the reactor was filled with bitumen, and the fire could possibly spread to the third operating reactor. In that case the consequences would be even more disastrous. All firefighters died and about 800 000 people from all around the huge country began to move to Pripyat to help. Many of them came for a few days, got the maximum allowed radiation dose and went back to their homes.
The best helicopter pilots from Afghanistan came and fought the fire in the reactor with sand. Thousands of miners and metro workers dug a 150-meter tunnel under the reactor to place refrigerators with liquid nitrogen to reduce the temperature of the reactor. The tunnel was then filled with concrete. The soldiers had to throw pieces of the radioactive material from the roof to the reactor, but just a few minutes of this work was enough to get the dose of the radiation.
The decision to make the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus was made in one month and the commission to investigate the incident chose the best of 18 options. In all, 90 000 workers participated in the construction, and it was finished very quickly – in 206 days. The sarcophagus's walls go 35 meters under the ground (so nothing could fall into the river) and covers about 5,000 tons of radioactive materials. There was the possibility nuclear fuel re-heating, and in this case, the sarcophagus might not have survived. The first shelter object was built to last 20-25 years and now the second shelter is nearly finished.
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