Ukraine to launch Chernobyl shelter on anniversary

UKRAINE: Ukraine mourned Thursday the 26th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, as its president prepared to launch construction of a vital new shelter to contain the stricken nuclear plant.

In a message mourning the victims, President Viktor Yanukovych described Chernobyl as the "largest human-caused disaster of the 20th century" and thanked countries that have contributed to the massive sarcophagus project.

An explosion during testing at the power plant in the early hours of April 26, 1986, sent radioactive fallout into the atmosphere that spread across Europe, particularly contaminating Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. In an emergency cleanup, workers placed a temporary concrete and steel shelter over the reactor, but that structure is now dangerously crumbling. AFP