Chernobyl, the radioactive site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, is to be enveloped in a giant steel cover so that work can start on dismantling the reactor.
The Ukraine authorities have hired a French firm to build the structure to replace the crumbling concrete casing put over the reactor after the 1986 accident.
The steel cover project is expected to cost $1.4bn (£700m) and will take five years to complete before dismantling of the reactor can begin. Said Ukrainian President, Viktor Yushchenko: “Today is probably the first time that we can openly look into the eyes of the national and international community and say that a solution to the problem that has long been called the Chernobyl problem was formally found,” he said.
The French construction company, Novarka, will build a giant arch-shaped structure out of steel, 190 metres (623 feet) wide and 200m long.
It will cover the existing containment structure which stands over the reactor and radioactive fuel that caused the accident in 1986.
The reactor still contains 95% of its original nuclear material, and exposure to weather and poor construction has left the existing casing weak.
A separate deal has, also, been signed with the US firm, Holtec, to build a storage facility within the exclusion zone for nuclear waste which has been produced by Chernobyl.
The money for the schemes has come from international donors and is administered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Its president, Jean Lemierre, said the continued commitment of Ukrainian authorities and the international community was vital for the projects to be successfully completed.