Eric Schmieman worked on modern engineering for 15 years, the equivalent of modern engineering of the Great Pyramids – a huge protective cover for Chernobyl damaged reactors that will protect the world from the worst nuclear disaster ever.
Steel shells are the world's largest movable structure, slipping off the No. 4 reactor on the railroad track in 2016. It is as tall as a football field and weighs nearly 40,000 tons. More than 45 countries and organizations have spent nearly $1.7 billion in construction.
“We did a lot of safety analysis considering a lot of bad things,” said Mr. Schmiman, 78, a retired civil engineer in Washington State who is a senior technical consultant for the project. “We considered earthquakes, tornados, strong winds, 100 years of snowfall, all kinds of things. We did not consider acts of war.”
On February 14, a drone with a highly explosive warhead could cost only $20,000 to create a hole in the steel shell. Ukrainian officials said the Russians deliberately targeted the structure with 136 drones. The Kremlin denies responsibility.
Artem Siryi, head of the structural operations department, said that while the initial fire was quickly put out, the insulation film inside the arch was burned and smoldered for nearly three weeks. Ukrainian officials and international experts say first responders in hiking equipment must knock holes into the outer layer of the shield, look for fire, and spray water in structures designed to keep them dry to prevent corrosion.
On March 7, Ukraine announced that the fire was officially put out. But by then, about half of the northern part of the shield was damaged, Ukrainian officials said. An assessment shared by Ukraine with the agency said the IAEA said on March 13 that the fire and depression caused “a wide range of losses, including the northern side, to a lesser extent to the southern side of its roof.”
IAEA and Ukrainian nuclear regulators say radiation levels outside Chernobyl are still normal. But it is not clear how the shield will be fixed, how much it will take and how long it will take.
Nuclear experts warn that repairs can take years. This could delay plans to remove damaged reactors and safely dispose of radioactive waste that should have begun in the next five years. And there is a risk that the steel shell begins to corrode, or the temporary “sarcophagus” Soviet engineer who was still in the shell, which was still inside the shell, worsening further.
“The international community spent a lot of money and time building this structure because they knew the scale of the threat inside,” said Shaun Burnie, a nuclear expert at Greenpeace, who visited Chernobyl’s damaged reactor after the drone attack.
“Building something that protects Europe, Ukraine and the world from things inside is a huge intellectual achievement,” he said. “Now, the Russians have basically blown a hole in their bodies and metaphors.”
On Thursday, Greenpeace released a report saying the drone attack severely compromised plans for damaged reactors and that the shells were no longer as designed. Jan Vande Putte, a nuclear expert at Ukraine Greenpeace, said the entire shell may have to be removed, removed and replaced – a view that Mr. Schmieman and Mr. Siryi responded. The IAEA said Shell's restrictive function has been compromised and the structure requires “extensive maintenance work”.
Since the full-scale invasion of Moscow in February 2022, Russia and Ukraine have targeted each other's energy infrastructure, but both have also stopped launching major strikes at nuclear power plants.
On Wednesday, as part of negotiations for a potential ceasefire, President Trump recommended the U.S. take over Ukraine's electricity and nuclear power plants, believing that it will help protect them.
Mr Siryi said in an interview that almost every night, the drone continued to fly over Chernobyl. “Their motor noise has become a familiar sound,” he added. Many people may be heading towards the country's capital, Kyiv.
For people of a certain age, the explosion rate in Chernobyl in 1986 was growing in fear of nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States for many years, and it was a nightmare. It sent some radioactive materials into the air, causing a public health emergency in Europe and causing many to question nuclear energy. The Soviets initially hid the extent of the disaster and he hurriedly built an emergency “sarcophagus” of concrete and steel to wrap the damaged reactor. Authorities have also established a 1,000-square-mile “exclusion zone” where no one can live.
The official death toll from the explosion is 31 years old. But many others get sick or eventually die. The incidence of cancer, especially for thyroid cancer, has increased in areas exposed to radiation.
The sarcophagus became increasingly unstable and never continued. It took decades to figure out how to replace it.
Mr. Schmieman's work in the lockdown structure in Chernobyl is an engineering and architectural feat designed to protect damaged reactors for 100 years. To minimize exposure to radiation, the structure built a mile one-third of the mile from the damaged reactor and then moved into place. It is about 40 feet thick and the shells are all made of steel. The humidity level between the shells is kept below 40% to prevent corrosion.
Schmiman said the shell is key to preventing precipitation. The inner shell is designed to keep radioactive dust inside the structure, especially before dismantling the sarcophagus and the damaged reactor, and then safely place the waste in a smaller container.
By the end of the year, the expert’s goal is to complete the initial plan outlining the first demolition phase. “Unfortunately, this is no longer possible due to the drone attack,” Mr Siryi said.
He said experts are evaluating how to fix the shell – even if it can be resolved. Workers will have to close the initial 540 square feet of hole from the drone. But they also have to seal the small holes created by workers trying to put out the fire. They will have to repair damaged membranes and insulation materials and any damaged internal structures in some way. They will have to reduce the humidity of hundreds of workers spraying high-power hoses inside the structure.
Experts say that this may be impossible. Moving the structure and then fixing it will also be challenging. What will protect an already unstable sarcophagus while doing this work?
“It's almost impossible to restore the facility,” Mr. Siryi said. “Take it as close as possible to its original condition – well, that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Mr Schmiman said it would be very expensive to repair the structure or build a new one. He recommends temporarily covering the holes (with something like tape) so that the internal ventilation system can start to lower humidity. “Do not immediately look for a quick, permanent solution to a large number of holes in a building, but look for a quick way to reduce corrosion,” he said.
One thing, he said, could help: drones. In large part, Ukraine developed drone technology faster than almost any other country. A small drone (much smaller than the Shah 136 that pierces the structure) may be able to assess damage inside the shell and may even help repair it.
Oleksandra mykolyshyn Contribution report.
