Chornobyl AES: no green lawn
Ukraine would be lucky to have enough money to deal with the “brown spot”
Passing through Checkpoint Dytiatky, on the way to the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Station (AES), past which begins the Exclusion Zone (EZ), one can sense and see that the central budget has not been overly generous toward the State Department (the official name of the EZ administration). Right after the checkpoint the well-maintained highway turns into a bumpy patchwork on which you cannot drive more than 40 km per hour, with practically no inhabited localities on either side (after the nuclear disaster, almost 100,000 residents from 92 villages were resettled). Instead you see signs reading “Vil. Cherevach, pop. 437,” “Vil. Zalissia, pop. 249,” “Vil. Kopachi, pop. 114…” You realize that this decrease in the populace isn’t coincidental. The same is true of the packs of boars sporadically racing across the road, free of man’s economic activities (ecologists say that even Przewalski’s horses feel comfortable here; their population has increased from 20 to 70 head).
Next year Ukraine and the rest of the world will mark the 25th anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. Ukraine will mark the Year of Chornobyl. In April it will host an international conference under the aegis of the United Nations, as has been announced by President Viktor Yanukovych. Ukrainian scientists will report that the contamination situation is stabilizing and talk about comprehensive research programs; international sponsors will discuss the progress of unique projects aimed at eliminating the contamination threat to the populace and the possibility of further investments. Naturally, this conference will attract additional attention to Chornobyl and may give a fresh impetus to the suburbs — they aren’t to remain part of the Exclusion Zone for ages, are they? Even now extreme tourism is gaining momentum here while businesspeople are considering plans of buying the lands that long for human presence.
All these are plans to be carried out in the not too distant future. Today it is necessary to solve rather complex, costly, yet pressing problems. Since no power units or facilities, other than those involved in putting the nuclear power station out of operation, are expected to be built on the AES site, it has been decided not to turn the whole thing into a “green lawn.” A feasible ultimate objective is the so-called brown spot that will allow to lower the current level of regulatory control.
To this end the construction of a new, safer confinement recently began at the Chornobyl AES. It will be a huge arch structure meant to protect people and the environment, should the temporary structure of the “Sarcophagus” [the Shelter], hastily built in 1986 over the destroyed fourth power unit, suddenly collapse. To lay the foundation of this giant structure (108 meters in height and 150 meters in length) over the damaged power unit, so as to encase it, 396 special piles have to be driven into the ground. Ten are already there. However, no haste is allowed, says Andrii Bilk, chief engineer of the state enterprise Chornobyl AES, because it is necessary to constantly monitor the effect of the impact and vibration on the Shelter. In fact the construction started with preparing the site, which was easier said than done because of the high radiation levels and the need to carry out dismantling and assembly works. In addition, in the course of the excavation (some 30,000 m3 had to be removed), a hoisting crane, a prime mover, and earth machines were discovered, buried there 25 years ago. This stage was preceded by an even more complicated one: removing used nuclear fuel from the abandoned third power unit.
This work was finished in the presence of First Deputy Prime Minister Andrii Kliuiev, as the last fuel assembly was placed in the spent fuel storage facility, so that work on the new safe confinement could actively begin. The spent fuel will be kept in the temporary storage facility KHOYAT-1, until KHOYAT-2, a dry storage facility, will become operational (not earlier than 2013).
As it is, the construction of facilities required to enhance safety on the site of Chornobyl AES is inadmissibly slow. Some of them are decades behind schedule. This was one of the reasons behind the first deputy prime minister’s visit. Kliuiev told journalists that he was on the site to give the construction management a dressing down, and that he had been working on speeding up construction work since 2002. In 2008, he added, an act of completion of the Shelter stabilization facility was signed. This allowed the international commission to prolong the term of its operation for another 15 years. The problem is, however, that the new confinement’s preliminary estimates point to a cost of 505 million dollars. Now that the project [documentation] is practically ready, its implementation will cost 870 million euros, so the project budget’s deficit amounts to 550 million euros, said Kliuiev.
The Ukrainian government is still optimistic. Kliuiev assured that this deficit won’t impede the start of construction work, as there is enough money for this stage. Moreover, he is confident that international sponsors won’t leave this project without support: “The EBRD leadership will visit Ukraine on December 5. We will discuss further construction and completion of the new confinement. I think we’ll find [other] donors, as people are aware of this budget deficit.” The deputy prime minister explained this deficit by a serious increment in the safety requirements set by Ukraine and the international community. He is sure that the conference in April will provide a final solution to all problems relating to the financing of the construction project, as well the construction of spent fuel processing and storage facilities. Kliuiev was displeased with the current slow pace and he must have given management a piece of his mind during a meeting behind closed doors. He ordered network schedules for every facility to be prepared before the EBRD delegation’s visit in early October. These schedules will be coordinated with the EBRD and the European Commission, and then adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. He added that those who will fail to comply with these schedules will be punished. Kliuiev is confident that will help push work on the project off the ground and speed it up. Ukraine, understandably, wants to demonstrate to the European bankers its ability to effectively use their loans.
Not coincidentally, recently Prime Minister Mykola Azarov declared: “We regard cooperation with the EBRD as having bright prospects; it can help our economic growth.” He added that seven joint projects are being carried out and that Ukraine expects this cooperation to become even more active. “Everyone acknowledges the stability brought forth by the new government in this country. We also support all those important, politically daring reforms that the new government has set about translating into life,” said Vassili Lelakis, EU Director in the EBRD. He went on to say that the EBRD and Ukraine intend to sign an agreement on a loan worth two billion dollars. “We must make every effort to receive this money,” Kliuiev told journalists.
