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In 1986, a gigantic cloud of radioactive material burst from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in the Ukraine, marking what has so far been the world’s worst nuclear power disaster. Over 100,000 people were quickly evacuated from the area around the facility, leaving behind everything and making an instant ghost town of Pripyat where most of the workers lived.
The ground zero of the meltdown, the Chernobyl reactor, was covered with a hastily-built shelter meant only to last about 30 years. A massive new structure is being constructed in its place that will allow for the dismantling of the reactor and the removal of deadly radioactive waste that still contaminates the site.
The shelter, shaped like a gargantuan Quonset hut, will be 257 meters by 150 meters (843 feet by 492 feet) when completed and at its apex will be higher than the Statue of Liberty.
The ground zero of the meltdown, the Chernobyl reactor, was covered with a hastily-built shelter meant only to last about 30 years. A massive new structure is being constructed in its place that will allow for the dismantling of the reactor and the removal of deadly radioactive waste that still contaminates the site.
The shelter, shaped like a gargantuan Quonset hut, will be 257 meters by 150 meters (843 feet by 492 feet) when completed and at its apex will be higher than the Statue of Liberty.
1. The damaged reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012, as it disappears into the low cloud cover. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
3. Construction workers assist in the assembly of a gigantic steel-arch to cover the remnants of the exploded reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
4. Construction workers assist in the assembly of a gigantic steel-arch to cover the remnants of the exploded reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
5. The new safe confinement, a structure that is being built over reactor 4, left, damaged in 1986 as a result of the world's worst nuclear accident, will cover a hastily built sarcophagus, which was erected shortly after the explosion. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
8. A view of empty houses in the deserted town of Pripyat near the closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant Ukraine Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
9. A playground in the deserted town of Pripyat, Ukraine, some 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) from the Chernobyl nuclear plant Ukraine, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
10. An abandoned kindergarten in the deserted city of Pripyat, which was built to house the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear power station some 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) from the plant, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
11. An abandoned kindergarten in the deserted city of Pripyat, which was built to house the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear power station some 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) from the plant, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
12. A toy lies in the window frame of a kindergarten in the deserted town of in Pripyat, Ukraine, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012, some 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) from the Chernobyl nuclear plant. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
13. A damaged bench near an abandoned apartment building in the deserted city of Pripyat, which was built to house the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear power station some 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) from the plant, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. Pripyat, the city of 47,000 had already been evacuated after the April 26, 1986, explosion of Reactor No. 4. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
14. A view of empty houses in the deserted town of Pripyat near the closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant Ukraine Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
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