Works on anchoring the sealing membrane of the New Safe Confinement’s Arch are carried out within the Chernobyl NPP Unit 4 premise.
Yurii Filimonov — foreman of a drilling unit of the Shelter Object (New Safe Confinement) Operation Shop (hereinafter — SO(NSC)OP) — explains: “Now we are working on ensuring 100% attachment of sealing anchors in the points of contact between the Arch and Block V [Unit No.4 — ed.]. The design area of attaching the sealing anchors is ensured not at all reinforced concrete structures available at these points. Therefore, in order to reduce the work execution period and provide substantial assistance to the contacting organization, the SO(NSC)OP, represented by a combined team, executes works on deepening the niches in the points of bonding the sealing anchors with the building structures.
The work is performed within premises No.7001 and No.6004 under high radiation fields. These activities are carried out by several teams to reduce dose burdens onto personnel.
Currently we need in the shortest time possible to ensure execution of the drilling and grooving works within these premises.”
“The works are carried out in tough conditions. We use both gas and electrical cutting of metal as the concrete supporting structures have inclusions of re-bars. They should be cut because they impede attaching the anchors,” — adds Sviatoslav Mamykin — electric and gas welder of the SO(NSC)OP’s non-stationary equipment repair sector.
Petro Lukashevych — foreman of the SO(NSC)OP’s non-stationary equipment repair sector, who manages the works on installation of niches and holes in the reinforced concrete structures – explains that the work execution areas are hard-to-reach. The reason for this – remains of the post-accident equipment that is not in use anymore, and debris of construction waste as well. For access to the work areas it is necessary to clean these places and assemble temporary scaffolding.
Following these activities, the contractor will be able to seal the NSC in full and by so doing to isolate its internal under-arch space from the environment.
