The New Safe Confinement (NSC) at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) completed its final commissioning test on Thursday, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The 72-hour trial operation test, which was completed a day before the 33rd anniversary of the 1986 accident, marks the safe physical completion of the new structure placed over the destroyed reactor 4, the statement said.
As an engineering project, which was implemented with the construction of a huge structure in the heavily contaminated Chernobyl site, the NSC is part of the Shelter Implementation Plan to transform Chernobyl into an environmentally safe and secure environment.
Implemented through the EBRD's Chernobyl Shelter Fund and supported by over 45 donor nations as well as funds from the EBRD in excess of a total cost of €2.1 billion, the NSC project at the Chernobyl NPP represents the largest international collaboration ever in the field of nuclear safety.
The NSC will protect the environment from further releases of radioactive materials and enable the long-term safe and secure deconstruction of the old shelter and the destroyed reactor, as well as the removal of the radioactive inventory, according to the EBRD.
'This is a tremendous success and the result of the outstanding cooperation of all parties involved,' said Balthasar Lindauer, EBRD director for nuclear safety.
By Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr