Today’s Guest Post has been prepared by Emilia Ochtera, her endless supply of facts and stories about
Chernobyl never cease to amaze me! Various techniques were used to deal with the consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster and many unique ideas were implemented, one of which was nets. These meshes were used to remove fine debris and dust from the roof of the reactor block number 3 and the roof of the turbine hall. They were also used to clean parts of the reactor block number 4 which were not covered with the Sarcophagus.
The nets were made from all available materials, some of them woven from ropes. The early size of one mesh was 4.5 meters long by 2 meters wide, but in later use the nets were so large that they would not fit on the KrAZ trucks in which they were transported. The nets were dipped in a special resin glue and then placed on the contaminated surfaces using helicopters. After some time this idea was abandoned because the helicopters’ main rotor blades blew dust into the air, and cranes were used instead.
After laying the mesh, it was allowed to bind to the dust and once the glue had dried, the mesh was torn off together with the material to which it adhered. Afterwards, the nets used to clean the reactor block number 4 were left under the Sarcophagus, and those used to clean the turbine hall and reactor block number 3, were transported to radioactive waste burial grounds.
Source of the photographs is unknown, please get in touch if you know the author so I can give them full credit!
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