Huge section of roof covering Chernobyl nuclear reactor which exploded collapses under the weight of snow
Worldwide, Daily news | ankakh | February 14, 2013 12:26A huge section of roofing covering part of the defunct nuclear power plant at Chernobyl has collapsed under the weight of snow.
Officials immediately denied any threat of radiation even though the accident involved a cover on part of the workings of Reactor Number 4 which exploded in 1986 in the world’s worst atomic disaster.
The area of the collapse was about 600 square metres (6,456 square feet) in the turbine hall of the disused power station, which is in modern-day Ukraine.
‘There is no threat to the lives or health of the population,’ said a statement from Russia’s Emergencies Ministry, echoing Ukrainian assurances.
A new giant arch-shaped confinement is currently being constructed over the old sarcophagus, which is in danger of cracking.
The construction of the new shelter was not affected by the accident, said Anton Usov, spokesman for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which runs the $2 billion project co-sponsored by the bank and international donors.
Vinci and Bouygues, two French construction companies who are contracted to work on building the new confinement, said they had evacuated about 80 workers as a precaution.
They had not returned as of Wednesday.
Chernobyl plant spokeswoman Maya Rudenko called that a standard measure of precaution and said the workers are expected to return as soon as an investigation into the accident is completed and the roof is reinforced in order to prevent water from getting inside.
She also added that Ukrainian workers at the plant have not been evacuated or ordered to implement any additional safety measures: ‘We are not wearing face masks, we have not been evacuated, which is what would have happened had there been danger.’
‘Even if the radiation level has not changed, it’s still an alarming signal,’ Vladimir Chuprov, head of the energy program at Greenpeace Russia, said, according to the Interfax news agency.
‘If the panels in the turbine hall have collapsed, then in principle there is no guarantee that the sarcophagus, built in 1986, will not start falling apart in the near future.’
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