Chernobyl now is safe, after more than 30 years since that terrible nuclear disaster occurred on 26th of April 1986 that threw terror in half of Europe.
Yesterday, one year in advance, it has been placed the giant made of steel sarcophagus called "New Safe Confinement" on the ruins of the reactor no.4 of the nuclear plant.
Made of steel, it is 275 meters wide, 108 meters high and has a weight of about 36000 tons: today is the largest movable structure ever built by man and, for its realizations, have been required 10 years of design and 6 years of construction.
The armor have been built near the plant and was made "slip" on the reactor through a system of hydraulic jacks: the operation lasted two weeks because of the difficulty of steering operations.
It has the shape of an huge hangar and it is the result of donations which was attended by 40 countries including Italy. The structure, of course, will not allow the coming to the normal situation; however, thanks to it, in the next few years it will be able to remove the 200 tons of radioactive materials covered in a hurry by the first sarcophagus (made of cement and iron) and it will be able to segregate the reactor for other 100 years.
In the area of almost 2600 square kilometers around the reactor, uninhabited from the date of the disaster, the contamination levels are still high and, according to experts, will remain so for decades. The work, also thanks to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, will continue in the coming months to advance the remediation.
SEA has contributed with the supply of no.6 transformers with cast resin MV windings that are used for the electrical auxiliary systems of the armor:
- No. 2 1250 kVA with voltages of 6.6 / 0.4 kV
- No. 2 2000 kVA with voltages of 6.6 / 0.4 kV
- No. 2 2500 kVA with voltages of 6.6 / 0.4 kV
Once again the Italian technology has become the protagonist of a world-class project.