Chornobyl shelter begins move toward reactor

MOSCOW – A gargantuan arch-shaped shelter has begun creeping toward the exploded Chornobyl nuclear reactor, in what represents a significant step toward liquidating the remains of the world’s worst nuclear accident.

When the shelter is in place, work can begin on dismantling the so-called sarcophagus surrounding the reactor building to contain fallout from the explosion 30 years ago.

The shelter, 275 metres wide and 108 metres (843 feet wide, 354 feet tall), began moving Monday by a system of hydraulic jacks, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which led the 1.5 billion-euro ($1.6 billion) project.

The Chornobyl explosion spewed a cloud of fallout over much of Europe and left large swaths of Ukraine and Belarus uninhabitable.