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- legendxx, on 12/23/2007, -1/+106On September 17, 2007 it was announced that a new steel containment structure would be built to replace the aging and hastily built sarcophagus that currently protects the damaged reactor. The project, financed by an international fund managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, will be designed and built by the French-led consortium Novarka, which includes the companies Bouygues SA and Vinci SA. Novarka will build a giant arch-shaped structure out of steel, 190 metres wide and 200 metres long, to cover the old crumbling concrete dome that is currently in use.
It is expected to take a year to design the new building and another 2 years to build it. The steel casing project is expected to cost $1.4bn (£700m). A separate deal has also been made with United States firm Holtec to build a storage facility within the exclusion zone for nuclear waste produced by Chernobyl.[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl#Sarcophagus ... - r2builder, on 12/23/2007, -5/+90I remember a few days ago on Digg, there was a guy saying that BBC programs were crap. This is a prime example of how much he was wrong. Utterly fascinating. I'd like him to see this, or perhaps he's too busy watching 'The Simple Life' or 'Dharma & Greg'
- Jeebugorn, on 12/23/2007, -5/+68awesome! i always find stuff about chernobyl interesting. good digg
- Mashko1, on 12/23/2007, -4/+67"There's no time for chewing the snot"
- hstege, on 12/23/2007, -1/+54I was just there on Monday, on an excursion. The radiation levels around the sarcophagus (we got about 500 meters away, or so) were over 40 times higher than normal levels in Kiev (which isn't exactly "normal" anyway). Anyway, a day in the Chernobyl zone now is basically the same level of radiation as a trans-Atlantic flight.
They recently completed new supports for the roof / siding, as they had been resting on a wall that was canted in, and starting to crumble down. But they obviously really need this new covering, which will thankfully be airtight (if all goes according to plan). That will hopefully keep water from seeping in, reacting with the material in there, and then getting into the local water table, which then drains directly into Kiev's reservoir.
Problem is, the new structure is behind schedule (already) and suffering from accusations of corruption. Luckily, there's strong international backing to help with the project, but it's a massive undertaking. - NaziHatinChimp, on 12/23/2007, -3/+46"50,000 people used to live here...Now it's a ghost town..."
- inactive, on 12/23/2007, -5/+42Sounds like a job for Haliburton. Where are they?
- defr4g, on 12/23/2007, -0/+35"I wonder which of us, in 10 years' time will not have suffered any illness."
They perfectly know they're giving their lives to make this building less dangerous. I have no intention to state the obvious, but these guys are heroes. - chris9902, on 12/23/2007, -6/+36It's a good job they don't build 'em like that anymore. Shame people think they still do.
- KLowD9x, on 12/23/2007, -1/+30The pictures from the blood tests were shocking.
They say that the risk for cancer has increased dramatically, but when you have a mutated chromosome that looks like eight normal chromosomes placed end to end, there has to be more than just a cancer risk with that. - vertinox, on 12/23/2007, -0/+24Actually, Chernobyl is in the Ukraine now so it isn't Putins problem anymore.
- vertinox, on 12/23/2007, -0/+22Oof. The part where they had the soldier volunteers shovel radioactive debris when the robots broke down give me the willies. The radiation levels were so high they were only 60 seconds to move the debris and then run back to safety.
- thedingman, on 12/23/2007, -0/+22They still ran two of the four reactors after the accident, with the last one shutting down as near back as 2000. The whole plant is shut down now.
"Since 1991, Western nations had been pushing Ukraine to shut down the Chernobyl plant. After the fire at reactor 2 it was decided that the plant would be taken out of service in two stages, with one of the two remaining reactors being shut down by the year 1996 and another by the year 2000."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_Nuclear_Pow ... - boflaade, on 12/23/2007, -1/+22Why would you think the Soviet Union was Russia? The "Union" comprised of several countries including Russia.
- AshamedAmerican, on 12/23/2007, -4/+24Some remarkably brave Russian scientists and soldiers.
- inactive, on 12/23/2007, -4/+22Or.... Ukrainian history... you know... maybe get the county right next time before you talk about it's history.
- Anub1s, on 12/23/2007, -3/+21Very interesting, I watched this a couple of years ago and looking at that sarcophagus still gives me the chills.
- GeorgeStone2, on 12/23/2007, -2/+20Yeah.
SUPERPOWERS.
Who's with me! - CraigJ, on 12/23/2007, -1/+19and really, most didn't build them like that to start with.
- Bhatch514, on 12/23/2007, -1/+18Option C scenario, the rocket to the sun explodes on lift off in the atmosphere......spreads dust all over the globe.
- AllanX, on 12/23/2007, -0/+17It's a dirty secret in the US that publically-funded television like the BBC and PBS make some of the best shows out there. Eg. NOVA, Frontline, Horizons, Torchwood, The Office (UK)
- WoollyMittens, on 12/23/2007, -1/+17There's actualy very little people to shoot dead there and not oil to speak off.
- Insomnya3AM, on 12/23/2007, -3/+19Is anyone else here shocked to hear they are still running the two remaining reactors?
This is news to me. - rarson, on 12/23/2007, -1/+16The US never built them like that, ever. Chernobyl was a uniquely bad design.
People always point to Three-Mile Island as evidence of nuclear's danger, but TMI was absolutely nothing compared to Chernobyl. It's a testament to the safety of nuclear power that the worst thing that's happened in the US is TMI. It wasn't nearly as bad as some of the tragedies that have happened mining for coal, or explosions caused by hitting gas lines, etc. No one got hurt, or even got a significant dose of radiation.
To also add to that, the Navy has never had a nuclear incident in it's 54 years of operating hundreds of nuclear-powered ships, some of these having two reactors on board (with the USS Enterprise having a total of 8 reactors). - DaviDaviDaviD, on 12/23/2007, -2/+17What is shocking is that if the sarcophagus collapses, then a whole load more uranium dust will be thrown into the air. God's speed with the new shelter!
The real tragedy is the brith defects. - compgeek, on 12/23/2007, -0/+14God Bless the men and women that risked their lives and in many cases died to make sure that the accident as bad as it was was not much much worse . There was another documentary I watched that showed that several scientists in the control room stayed behind knowing they would die to help try and shut down the reactor
Godspeed men and women of chernobyl Godspeed - Poopoopants, on 12/23/2007, -4/+18Get out of here stalker.
- HueytheFreeman, on 12/23/2007, -0/+14It reminds me of the game STALKER. The precision with which they recreated Chernobyl is impressive.
- GeorgeStone2, on 12/23/2007, -2/+16a) Well you never know.
b) We are for the first time ever living in a society where losing the records of our history is damn near impossible.
Thanks to what we are using right now. The internet.
This distributed network means anyone and everyone can make their own personal backup of any part of history we want to learn about.
Losing our history is out of the question.
c) That will never happen.
And as for your last statement. That's just stupid.
If everyone had your mentality throughout history we would still be walking everywhere because the wheel ran someone over once.
Or using flints to create fire because matches burned down a house.
Get real. Nuclear power will most likely be powering our future.
No solar. Not wind. Not water. - ladyarcher85, on 12/23/2007, -0/+13Terrible tragedy indeed! And the after effects also. Watching this and then seeing what those scientists had to do, knowing what most earn, they all should be paid more.
- ianmurrays, on 12/23/2007, -1/+14It's 2007 and the sarcophagus hasn't been rebuilt? Jesus ...
- inactive, on 12/23/2007, -5/+17It's not in Russia, genius. I'm not sure how you missed all the times they said "Ukraine" in the video.
- goteki45, on 12/23/2007, -0/+12Definately, the really scary thing about it is the radiation being invisible. Walk too far down the wrong corridor and you're in trouble
- hokie47, on 12/23/2007, -0/+12I found this person account of Chernobyl really interesting. Some really freaky pictures
http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter1.html - rac1234, on 12/23/2007, -0/+12Little people to shoot dead? Sounds like fun.
- rac1234, on 12/23/2007, -0/+11Let's send Cheney in.
- scagnetti, on 12/23/2007, -2/+13I doubt any of these scientists give a damn about how much they get paid. Money is no incentive for this type of work.
- Poopoopants, on 12/23/2007, -1/+11Especially the scientists. They spent many years in school and university becoming very intelligent, to then give their lives.
- KLowD9x, on 12/23/2007, -1/+11Hold on, let me bust out my BBC Horizon collection on HD-DVD.
- reginaldino, on 12/23/2007, -2/+12its a 12 year old vhs. what the hell do you expect.
The crackling sound disappears anyway and the quality ain't that bad - xander, on 12/23/2007, -1/+11Chernobyl is in Ukraine, moron.
- tian2992, on 12/23/2007, -0/+10Those men are real heroes...
- hstege, on 12/23/2007, -0/+10They aren't anymore, they've been shut down. Now they draw in electricity from the lines that used to pump it out -- they need it to run the lights, monitoring equipment, etc.
- gak001, on 12/23/2007, -0/+9Can you take a break from making the rest of the world think we're a bunch of idiots because you were too stupid to pay attention to basic geography and history? It's really getting irksome.
- terracottapai, on 12/23/2007, -3/+12Soviet technology was so insanely bad, especially the 'hi-tech' stuff like nuclear plants and space vehicles.
I was once told by an ex-astronaut that the Russians had lost something like four or five women in space before the 'official' first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova.
Not to mention the hundreds killed in multiple massive rocket explosions. - betona, on 12/23/2007, -0/+9I can't believe they go in wearing only plastic coveralls, simple hats and the kind of respirator filters you'd use to mow your lawn with. There's zero protection against radioactive particles in any of that. I'd be looking to wear some kind of lead body armor out of Halo to protect me.
- RandoTheKing, on 12/23/2007, -7/+16I'd rather the US invest all the tax dollars into chernobyl than this useless ***** war.
- Typhoon2009, on 12/23/2007, -1/+10"Are you daft"? "Oi, Suzy"!
- lobofanina, on 12/23/2007, -0/+9How many people have died from Nuclear Power ever? How many people died from Coal Mining in the past year alone? How many people die annually from coal pollution related lung disease? Where does the power come from that would power a Solar Panel Fabrication facility? What powers the trucks that delivers raw material to the factory. What powers the mining equipment used to mine raw materials? What powers the factory that built the mining equipment used to mine raw materials for the Solar Panel Fabrication factory? And so on. And so on. And so on.
Poof!!! I magically just built a solar panel no environmental damage at all. - 1b2a, on 12/23/2007, -0/+9I heard that Apple designed the nuclear plant, focusing more on aesthetics than regulations.
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