ASE to enhance Chernobyl shelter safety
29 August 2007
Russia's AtomSrtoyExport (ASE) announced that it had been invited by Ukraine's Chernobyl NPP company to participate in a single bid tender to enhance the safety of the protective shelter over the destroyed reactor of unit 4. The contract would include repairs to the shelter's roof, installation of physical protection measures on access roads, and additional jacking of the supporting beams to increase their load-bearing capacity by up to 80%. A proposal to invite ASE to a single bid tender was previously approved by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which manages the International Shelter Fund. In the first half of 2007, ASE successfully completed a project to stabilize civil structures at the Chernobyl Shelter. The contract was agreed within the framework of the Shelter Implementation Program (SIP), which is financed by the International Shelter Fund. The work on the shelter has reportedly extended its service life by 10 to 15 years. A $1 billion international project will see a New Safe Confinement constructed over the decaying shelter, erected in the disaster's immediate aftermath by Soviet authorities. Groundwork is underway to prepare for the construction of a massive arch structure which will cover unit 4's reactor building and its section of the shared turbine hall.
Further information
AtomStroyExport
Chernobyl NPP
WNA's Chernobyl Accident information paper
WNN: Contractor and cash for Chernobyl
WNN: Benchmarks needed for New Safe Confinement
WNN: Decommissioning at Chernobyl