Game of Thrones actor aims to highlight Chernobyl's need for international support

According to the SSE Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) report on the visit, the actor, who played Jaime Lannister in the multi-award-winning Game of Thrones television series, met with plant director Serhii Tarakanov, as well as a range of plant employees and visited the unit control rooms for units 3 and 4, the Heroes Memorial and the New Safe Confinement itself.

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The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has previously supported a 2 MW solar power project at the plant (see picture above). ChNPP said Coster-Waldau, a UNDP Goodwill Ambassador, is producing a documentary  highlighting the challenges facing the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the Exclusion Zone during the war.

Tarakanov said: "During our meeting, we discussed the causes and consequences of the Chernobyl accident. Mr Coster-Waldau asked in-depth questions and showed a genuine interest in the plant's operations and the challenges we face today. We also discussed the importance of ensuring a reliable power supply to the plant's nuclear facilities ahead of the approaching winter, under the conditions of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine."

Background

Chernobyl unit 4 was destroyed in the April 1986 accident (you can read more about it in this WNN special report marking the 40th anniversary) with a shelter constructed in a matter of months to encase the damaged unit, which allowed the other units at the plant to continue operating. It still contains the molten core of the reactor and an estimated 200 tonnes of highly radioactive material.

However that shelter was not designed for the very long-term, and so the New Safe Confinement - the largest moveable land-based structure ever built - was constructed to cover a much larger area including the original shelter. The New Safe Confinement has a span of 257 metres, a length of 162 metres, a height of 108 metres and a total weight of 36,000 tonnes and was designed for a lifetime of about 100 years. It was built nearby in two halves which were moved on specially constructed rail tracks to the current position, where it was completed in 2019.

With the giant New Safe Confinement in place there were plans to make safe and dismantle the original shelter. However a drone strike last year caused fires and considerable damage to the structure, with a study earlier this year putting the estimated repair costs at around EUR500 million (USD577 million). The aim of the restoration project work is to restore the protective qualities of the New Safe Confinement to allow planning for safety work on the original shelter to resume.

Earlier this month the G7 nations pledged EUR260 million towards the necessary repairs and urged other countries to contribute towards the remaining financing needs.

Read more: Chernobyl unit 4 and the decommissioning challenge

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