Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
On April 26, 1986, there was an explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The Soviet authorities initially tried to cover it up. Later, after pressure from the international community, USSR leadership was forced to admit that the largest nuclear disaster in history had occurred just a few hundred kilometers from Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
Since then, an exclusion zone with a radius of 30 km has been set around the destroyed plant. The whole area is almost 2,600 square km – the size of the entire country of Luxembourg.
30 employees of the power plant died from the explosion or acute radiation sickness within a few months after the accident. Independent experts estimate that 500,000 people died from radiation. More than 100,000 people were evacuated within a radius of 30 km from the accident site. 240,000 people took part in the liquidation of the Chernobyl disaster. Currently, the only people living here are the few refusing to leave their homes. Deserted towns and villages are reclaimed by nature, and wild animals roam without fear on what once were streets and squares.
Already in October 1986, the “Sarcophagus” structure had been constructed. It was intended to protect humanity from the radiation of the destroyed reactor for dozens of years. However, the design turned out to be imperfect. Thus, in 2007, the construction of a new shield was agreed upon with the French consortium NOVARKA. The project was called the New Safe Confinement or the Arch. Construction went on for 7 years. 5,700 pipes, 4,000 joint connections, and 650,000 bolts were used. The height of the Arch is 109 meters. Its length is 162 meters. 10,000 people were involved in the project.
In 2016, the Arch was completed on the side of the sarcophagus and then pushed onto the structure. It became the world's largest moving structure, weighing more than 36,000 tons.
The first years of the New Safe Confinement operation proved its effectiveness – the radiation level decreased approximately tenfold. It is envisaged that the Arch will effectively seal off the destroyed reactor for at least 100 years.
Sashko Dolhyi
The founder of the "EFIR" workshop, the "ECHO" laboratory, the initiator of the creation of the
"Womens Sound" platform, the head of the research and educational Public Organization "Institute of
Sound". Curator and participant of national and international exhibitions of contemporary art, projects,
residencies, biennials. Participant of "Documenta 14" and "Documenta fifteen". Organizer of musical
events. Author of music "Sasha Dolgiy". Participant of national and international musical events,
festivals with a unique instrument of his own development - "Magnetic Pandora".