The Chornobyl NPP has received a Certificate of the State Architectural and Construction Inspectorate of Ukraine testifying the compliance of the completed facility “New Safe Confinement (NSC). Commissioning Stage (CS-1). License Package (LP-5). Design “Main Structure and Main Cranes System” with the design documentation and confirming it operational readiness.

Obtaining the certificate has become the culmination of many years of hard work of Ukraine and the international community to implement the project of transforming the Shelter into an environmentally safe system, which became possible only through support of more than 40 contributing countries and donors of the Chornobyl Shelter Fund. Completion of work in the scope of the License Package 5 is a demonstration of modern technical capabilities, since the Arch is the largest of all built mobile land structures of 165 m in length, 110 m in height, 260 m in width and a total weight of 36,200 tons.

The certificate confirmed the completion of works for LP-5 in full in accordance with the design documentation and cleared the way to the final stage — the commissioning of the NSC as an integral property complex together with internal systems.

For your reference

LP-5 includes development of design documentation; construction of the foundations of assembly, transport and service areas; manufacturing, organization of supply and installation of supporting elements of the steel structure of the Arch and components that joining it until its movement into the service area; manufacturing of the Arch cladding and arranging its delivery directly to the assembly site for its installation; manufacturing of bridges of the main cranes system and their installation in the design position; sealing of the links between the Arch structures and the Shelter elements, as well as sliding the Arch towards the Shelter Object.

Erection and sliding of the Arch to the Shelter Object was performed by Novarka, a consortium of the French construction companies Bouygues and Vinci. Construction began in 2012 after a large-scale preparatory work on the site. Due to the large dimensions of the Arch, it was necessary to build it in two parts, which were raised and successfully joined with each other in 2015. Inside the NSC Arch, a crane is installed for the future dismantling of unstable structures of the Shelter Object.

Read more: Project "New Safe Confinement Construction"