World's Worst Nuclear Disaster Site to Welcome Tourists

Would you go to Chernobyl?



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News that Chernobyl will soon open to tourists comes amid revelations today from the Accounts Chamber of the Ukrainian government, reported in the Russian and Ukrainian press, that not all funds budgeted for controlling the disaster site over recent years have actually been spent there and that the site is still a potential danger. In particular, the other three reactors have not been shut down according to plan, and the site has not been cleared of radioactive material, the Accounts Chamber said.

A "sarcophagus" constructed over the remains of reactor No. 4 has been deteriorating under pressure from within. The government plans to complete a new, more reliable shield by 2012. The Washington Post reported that the new shell is to be 345 feet tall, 853 feet wide and 490 feet long -- enough to contain Notre Dame Cathedral or the Statue of Liberty -- and will weigh 20,000 tons.