Ukraine's SSE ChNPP, the state company tasked with managing the Chernobyl NPP said the western and eastern halves of the arch of the New Safe Confinement (NSC) being installed at the plant have been joined together.
Ukraine’s SSE ChNPP, the state company tasked with managing the Chernobyl NPP said the western and eastern halves of the arch of the New Safe Confinement (NSC) being installed at the plant have been joined together.
The NSC will cover the old Chernobyl shelter and remnants of the damaged reactor of unit 4 safe and make them environmentally secure. Completion of the project is scheduled for November 2017.
The €935m contract for design and construction of the NSC was awarded to the Novarka consortium led by the French construction companies Bouygues Travaux Publics and Vinci Construction Grands Projets in August 2007. The final cost of the project is expected to be to €1.5bn. Construction is being financed through the Chernobyl Shelter Fund, managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as mandated by the G7 and on behalf of the contributors to the fund.
Installation of the 30,000t arch-shaped structure began in February 2012. The NSC will eventually reach a height of 110m, will be 165m long with a span of 260m and a lifetime of at least 100 years. Its frame is a huge lattice construction of tubular steel members built on two longitudinal concrete beams.