Additional Safety Projects

Fig. 6 - The 1986 accident damaged the braces that support the stack and secure it to the building. An earthquake or high winds could topple the stack, causing damage to either the shelter or Unit 3. Chornobyl workers will replace the damaged bracing, using a U.S. recommended approach that minimizes radiation exposure to workers.

The United States is working with Chornobyl plant personnel to assemble data for later use in two projects: an emergency preparedness plan and strategies to upgrade the structural integrity of the shelter.

Emergency Preparedness: The Shelter Implementation Plan calls for an improved emergency preparedness program. A team from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory visited Chornobyl in June 1997 to collect information about the site's current emergency plans and procedures. The team used that information and the International Atomic Energy Agency's emergency preparedness guidelines to outline a revised emergency plan for the shelter.

Background Information Supporting SIP Task 9 Emergency Preparedness (PNNL-11715) provides an assessment of emergency plan upgrade needs and supporting technical information. The document provides information for preparing proposals and cost estimates and relieves individual companies of the need for independent investigations. It is being provided to all parties competing for contracts under the Shelter Implementation Plan. The Project Management Unit--the management contractor to be named in 1998 by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development--will use the team's information in establishing an emergency plan.

Structural Investigation: The shelter's roof and supporting structures are unstable and may collapse. U.S. specialists have worked with Ukrainian experts to collect information for a technical description of the shelter's structural issues. Much of the information on the shelter, its condition, and proposed stabilization schemes was available only in Russian. The U.S. team translated, summarized, and analyzed this information in Background Technical Information Supporting SIP Tasks 1-6, on Shelter Structural Investigation and Monitoring (PNNL-11712).

This document supports the bidding process of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as it places contracts for gathering additional data and for performing the stabilization work. Provided to all parties competing for contracts under the Shelter Implementation Plan, the document provides information for preparing proposals and cost estimates and relieves individual companies of the need for independent investigations.

| The 1986 Disaster/The Unstable Shelter | Closure of the Chornobyl Plant | Preventing Collapse of the Shelter | Worker Protection | Additional Safety Projects |