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Protective cover over destroyed Chernobyl reactor halves radiation levels around plant

Xinhua, January 6, 2017 Adjust font size:

The new protective cover over the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear reactor No.4 has helped to cut the radiation levels around the plant by more than half, a senior nuclear energy official was quoted as saying by a local media Thursday.

"The safety of the area has already improved," deputy technical head of the Chernobyl's Shelter object Sergiy Kondratenko said.

He said that the radiation levels in Chernobyl are expected to fall further once the new confinement becomes fully operational.

The arch-shaped 110-meter-tall and 257-meter-wide metal sarcophagus was erected over the destroyed Chernobyl reactor in November 2016.

The project to transform the nuclear power plant into an environmentally safe facility is set to be completed by November this year.

The Chernobyl disaster, one of the worst nuclear accidents in human history, happened on April 26, 1986, when a series of explosions ripped through the plant located 110 kilometers north of the Ukrainian capital.

The blasts resulted in the demolition of the No.4 reactor and the spread of radiation across Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and other European countries. Endit