14 December - On the Day of Honoring the Participants of the Liquidation of the Consequences of the Chornobyl Disaster – representatives of the central executive bodies visited the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone and Chornobyl NPP, including the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Roman Abramovskyi, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Oleksandr Tkachenko, Head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine Hryhorii Plachkov, accompanied by the Head of the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management Sergii Kalashnyk, ChNPP's Acting Director General Volodymyr Pieskov, and ChNPP management.
Participants of the visit honored memory of liquidators of consequences of the Chornobyl Disaster, laying flowers to the monument dedicated to the memory of Chornobyl Heroes near the Administrative Building No.1 of Chornobyl NPP.
Volodymyr Pieskov emphasized the following: “On this day I would like to honor those in particular who stayed in the workplaces and went on carrying out their duty in the first hours of the catastrophe, and by doing so helped maintain order and peace, and hence save many people's health and lives. You and your colleagues are true heroes who didn't lose confidence, sense of responsibility and duty during tragic hours. Such kind of people make our world a safer and more enduring place. Bow low to you and our sincere gratitude!”.
As part of the events, the visitors attended the space under the Arch of the New Safe Confinement and found out the latest information about the progress of activities within pilot operation of the facility (NSC Commissioning Stage 1) from the Head of the Shelter (NSC) Operation Shop Serhii Poplyhin. In addition, the delegation visited the site of Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility of Dry Type where the second double-walled canister with the spent fuel is currently being loaded into the concrete storage modules as part of “hot tests”.
As noted by Roman Abramovskyi during the visit, the Government of Ukraine is taking further steps to start dismantling of Shelter Object unstable structures. Appropriate funds to be included in the State budget, and necessary preparatory works will be carried out at the facility during 2021.
