World Pledges $780 Million for New Shell for Chernobyl Nuclear Plant

April 19, 2011

French PM Francois Fillon, left, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, center, and President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso during the Chernobyl Pledging Conference in Kiev, Ukraine, April 19, 2011

The Fukushima factor reaches around the world to help raise funds for a new containment shell for the stricken nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, Ukraine

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One week before the 25th anniversary of the nuclear power plant explosion at Chernobyl, world leaders pledged Tuesday to provide $780 million for the construction of a shelter designed to house the toxic remains for another century.

Rain, rust and snow have weakened the first shelter, built 25 years ago and designed to last 20.

Laurin Dodd, an American engineer who is directing the new containment project, described the condition of the existing shelter, often called the sarcophagus.

"The sarcophagus itself had very large openings in it the size of picture windows, with small creatures going in and out and birds flying in and out," Dodd noted.

Chernobyl suffered the what was then the world's worst nuclear power accident. The explosion sent a plume of contaminants one kilometer into the air over Ukraine. Winds carried radioactive clouds north over Russia and Belarus. 330,000 people had to be moved from their homes.