World Donors Agree to Fund New Chornobyl Shelter

KYIV, Ukraine, July 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

The Nuclear Safety Account and the Chornobyl Shelter Fund donors agreed to provide the necessary financial resources for the implementation of the Chornobyl projects. The decision was made at the Assembly of Contributors to the Chornobyl Shelter Fund meeting on July 7, 2011, in London. The new construction will help neutralize any possible future threats to the environment from the Chornobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine.

While reporting about the results of the donors meeting to the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Kostyantyn Gryshchenko stated that the issue of raising funds for the Shelter Implementation Plan (SIP) is finally resolved.

The needed amount of financial resources for SIP funding is EUR 740 mln. On the 25^th anniversary of the Chornobyl tragedy on April 26, 2011, a fundraiser was held resulting in donors' obligations of EUR 550 mln.

The new decision of the world donors allows for the immediate start of the SIP execution and its completion by 2015. The SIP involves stabilization of the existing sarcophagus and the construction of a New Safe Confinement (NSC) for the damaged nuclear reactor.

Earlier, the Director of the Nuclear Safety Department of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Vincent Novak said that, in order to meet the schedule for the NSC construction, it is important to begin metal constructions assembly by autumn for them to be ready for installation on the site by next spring.

In 1988 local scientists announced that the life time of the sarcophagus was 20 to 30 years. The Chornobyl Shelter Fund (CSF) was established nearly a decade later in December of 1997 to collect funds for the NSC project. Currently, the European Union, the United States, and Ukraine cooperate to help meet the CSF's objective while the EBRD is entrusted to manage the CSF and provide oversight of the funds disbursement.

The construction of the original Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus began on May 20, 1986 - three weeks after the accident, and lasted for 206 days. Over 400 thousand m³ of concrete and 7300 tons of metal framework were used to lock in 16 tons of uranium and plutonium, 200 tons of radioactive corium, and 30 tons of contaminated dust.