The fourth power unit of Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been covered with a new 110-meter sarcophagus, a steel enforced concrete structure weighing 31,000 tons, designed to contain radioactive debris, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports on Tuesday.
The sarcophagus is scheduled to be officially put into operation in November 2017 and is intended to serve for 100 years. After that, dismantling of the old sarcophagus will start, which contains some 200 tons of radioactive debris, as well as of the reactor damaged in 1986. The works are scheduled to be completed by 2023.
Construction of new sarcophagus, carried out by Novarka international consortium set up by French companies with the participation of Ukrainian contractors, cost almost 1,5 billion euro. While according to initial estimate, the expenditure was estimated at 600 million euro.