Russian Minister Fears Collapse of Chernobyl Shield

Reuters to My Yahoo! ^ | Tue Apr 22,11:04 AM ET | Oliver Bullough

[Calpernia]

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The concrete shield thrown up to block radiation escaping the Chernobyl nuclear power station after it exploded in 1986 is collapsing and needs urgent reinforcement, Russia's atomic energy minister said Tuesday.

Alexander Rumyantsev was speaking at a news conference almost exactly 17 years after one of Chernobyl's four reactors exploded and spewed clouds of radioactivity over much of Europe in the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster.

"We can see a situation where the roof could fall in, or rather the supports that hold up the roof could fall down," he said, adding that the concrete itself was leaking radiation.

"There are a lot of holes in the sarcophagus," he said.

He said workers from his ministry involved in monitoring the reactor in ex-Soviet Ukraine kept him informed.

"I know how the sarcophagus was built. It was built in difficult radioactive conditions for the builders. They had to work fast to get away from the danger," he said.

"We need to surround it with another sarcophagus."

The Chernobyl disaster killed about 30 firefighters in the immediate aftermath, and many of the people involved in the clean-up died in the next weeks.

Rumyantsev said a collapse of the Soviet-era sarcophagus, dramatic as it may be, would have much more limited consequences than the original disaster.

"There is a strong chance it could happen, but it would not be such a catastrophe, it would be more of a local affair," he said. "It would be bad for Ukraine."

Rumyantsev, a staunch believer in the future of nuclear energy, said that despite the shock experienced by the public in 1986, estimates of the number of victims were often exaggerated.

Environmentalists and doctors in Ukraine say there have been thousands of deaths from radiation-related illnesses and a huge increase in thyroid cancer following the accident.

"Say there were 200 deaths ... an accident in a chemical factory would be more horrible judging by the number of victims. It was about as deadly as a plane crash -- Concorde, say," Rumyantsev said, referring to a supersonic jet which crashed in Paris nearly three years ago.

"When Greenpeace or other ecologists talk about a million victims, I am prepared to agree that a million people were scared. That was the main medical result of the disaster."

[Calpernia]

Appreciate any help to them in the Ukraine. I'm President of the Rivne Regional Funding system. The money doesn't trickle down through the State. It goes directly to the Region.

www.HelpFeedaChild.com

[Calpernia]

Ping

[Eala]

in the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster.

That's a curious statement. I seem to recall there was another nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union but... what else? 3 Mile Island? Not a disaster, so far as I can tell...

[whadizit]

Rush was discussing this today, and, IIRC, said that Blix had declared this debacle to be safe. LOL!!

[SpyGuy]

I'll wager that we (the American taxpayers) will wind up paying for this cleanup.

Somehow, it's always our fault.

[n1f2ns]

yeah i for one don't give Blix any credibility. Ingorance is Blix, this just goes to support it even more.

[caisson71]

Russia should immediately call Germany and France for help, Hans Blix for an analysis - since he said all was OK - and the UN for some of that 2% Iraqi oil "commissions" to buy a LOT of cement.

[SpaceBar]

Sounds like a job right up there with pirhana repellent tester.

[Russell Scott]

This announcement is a weapon of mass distraction to keep the media from focusing on Russia's blatant support of the evil in the Middle East named Saddamned. Hopefully Rush, O'Reilly, and Savage will continue to show the world how much mother Russia loved that brutal despot.

[n1f2ns]

thats what the RATS should be used for.

[Ben Bolt]

Heard the same thing today .Maybe the mob over their can put up a few bucks in a pool to deal with it .

[ex-Texan]

If the structure itself is that freaking unsound -- is actually 'crumbling' -- I believe we may soon see what the term 'China Syndrome' really means.

Do not believe the reactor can be repaired. What are they gonna do? Pour on more concrete, with rebar and reinforced steel? Adding more weight will hasten the collapse in my view. Sounds like a bigger crisis than any of the experts realized at the time.

But what do I know? JMHO folks. Feel free to flame away.

[Calpernia]

Russia was actually suppose to clean this up years ago. They didn't. The wall was a band aid.

[Dog Gone]

I still have trouble imagining how frightening it must have been to build the containment structure over the plant. A new structure over it makes sense to me.

[Ben Bolt]

3 MI was a media farce to support the greens and the anti nuclear factions inside of our Republic . The reverse is what Chernobyl is .

The leadership changes & the wall came down but the mindset of that culture is most prevelant .

[Ben Bolt]

No need for you to be flamed .. I'd ping an expert or another FReeper who might be able to explain this if I knew who they are .

[Calpernia]

Some background: http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/1993/s93/s93Marples.html

[Calpernia]

If anyone cares, the Ukrainian battalion was part of the Coalition of the Willing to take down the Baath Regime. The Ukraine is our ally.

[Calvin Locke]

I don't know either, but start by pumping or blowing in say 10 feet of clay. Then pump in concrete followed by a cap of couple of feet of lead.

Have you ever noticed that there is never a lava flow around when you need it?

[whadizit]

Or maybe Blix will say it is our fault. "It was fine until the corrupt Americans invaded Iraq."