KIEV, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine is carrying out the works to hermetically seal the new protective confinement, the Arch, over the destroyed Chernobyl reactor No. 4, local media reported Tuesday, citing a press release by Ukraine's state agency for the Chernobyl zone management.
"The sealing will enable to completely isolate the space under the Arch from the environment," the press release said.
According to it, the Chernobyl confinement will be sealed with a special protective polyurethane membrane, which can expand by 55 percent from its initial size and withstand winds of up to 300 kilometers per hour.
The Chernobyl disaster, one of the worst nuclear accidents in human history, happened on April 26, 1986, when a series of explosions ripped through the plant, which is located 110 kilometers north of the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
The blasts resulted in the demolition of the No. 4 reactor and the spread of radiation across Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and other European countries.
To prevent further leakage of radiation, arch-shaped 110-meter-tall, 257-meter-wide and 164-meter-long metal confinement was erected over the reactor in November 2016.
The Arch is due to be commissioned in May this year. After being put into operation, it will protect the environment from radiation spewing from the unit in the next century.
