Magnate Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s richest man, announced today that he has offered one million Dollars to built a new sarcophagus for the reactor 4 at Chernobyl, damaged by the 1986 nuclear accident, informs EFE.
“The issue of nuclear safety is a matter of life and death. Ukraine’s future is at stake”, Akhmetov said in a statement for the Ukrainian media.
Akhmetov, whose fortune is estimated at 16 billion Dollars, according to the Ukrainian edition of Forbes magazine, underlined that “the completion of building the sarcophagus, which will cover the reactor number four, is very important “.
EU contribution increases with 110 million Euros
In turn, the President of the European Commission (EC), Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, also announced today, in Kiev, that the EU will contribute an additional 110 million Euros to complete the work of the sarcophagus at Chernobyl, where 25 years ago took place one of the most serious nuclear accidents in the history. So far, the EC commitments rose up to 470 million Euros, especially for nuclear safety projects and for programs to help the local population.
To complete the major projects at Chernobyl there is a need for an additional 740 million Euros from the international community.
The new sarcophagus, built by the French consortium Novarka, will cover the current one made from steel and concrete. It is needed because the old one is already showing cracks that allow radioactive leak, says Greenpeace. The new sarcophagus will have a cubical shape and a height of 108 meters.