The largest moving structure on Earth
The New Safe Confinement (NSC) is an engineered solution to a decades-old problem. After the 1986 disaster, Soviet workers hastily constructed a concrete and steel "sarcophagus" to cover the destroyed Reactor 4. Built in just 206 days under extreme conditions, the Shelter Object, as it was officially known, was only a temporary fix. Over the years, it began to degrade, with a high risk of collapse that would release enormous amounts of radioactive dust.
To prevent this, an international effort funded by more than 45 nations and managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was launched. The result is the NSC, the largest land-based moving structure ever built. Its dimensions are immense: 108 meters high, 162 meters long, and with a span of 257 meters. The entire structure weighs 36,000 tonnes. To minimize radiation exposure for the 2,000 workers, the arch was constructed in a decontaminated area 327 meters away from the reactor. Between November 14 and November 29, 2016, the entire structure was slid into its final position over the old sarcophagus using a system of 224 hydraulic jacks.
A 100-year mission
The NSC is a complex facility. The facility is designed with a 100-year lifespan to make the site environmentally safe. Its primary goals are to contain the radioactive remains of Reactor 4, protect the deteriorating sarcophagus from weather, and allow for the future deconstruction of the unstable structures inside.
The arch is a double-walled structure clad in 86,000 square meters of three-layer sandwich panels. The space between the inner and outer skins circulates dried, depressurized air to prevent corrosion and stop radioactive dust from escaping. The inner lining is made of polycarbonate to prevent radioactive particles from settling on the steel frame. Inside this massive space hang two enormous, remote-controlled cranes. These cranes are designed to carry out the eventual, high-risk work of dismantling the original sarcophagus and the reactor core itself. The total cost for the Shelter Implementation Plan, which includes the NSC, was approximately €2.15 billion, with the arch itself costing €1.5 billion.