Kiev gets cash to construct new Chernobyl shell

19/04/11 11:33 CET

world news

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EU leaders and the G8 are meeting in Kiev, Ukraine, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, an event brought into sharper focus by the nuclear crisis at Fukushima in Japan.

Europe backs a plan to construct a new shell over Chernobyl’s No.4 reactor, which exploded in 1986, to prevent radiation passing through the current makeshift covering.

Hundreds of tonnes of radioactive material is still contained inside.

The European Union has pledged an extra 110 million euros, meaning that 550 million of the 740 million euros the construction will cost has already been raised.

The donor conference launches a week of commemorations in Ukraine marking the Soviet-era explosion, which sent a cloud of radioactivity over Belarus, Russia and into parts of northern Europe.

The number of victims from the explosion stands at 31, but official figures on the total number of dead from radiation sickness remains a topic of intense debate.

More about: Chernobyl, G20, Japan disaster, Kiev, Ukraine, Nuclear accidents

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Mali: Rebel groups agree to creation of Islamic state

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