Another, more extensive application, is planned for October to develop and fine tune the methods and equipment for applying EKOR coatings to nuclear waste. When Reactor 4 was destroyed by an explosion and fire in April 1986, molten nuclear fuel collected beneath the ruined reactor where it has been emitting deadly radiation ever since. Many substances have been applied in attempts to contain radiation from the fuel masses and surrounding radioactive dust at Chernobyl, but all have disintegrated within three or four months from the effects of the radiation. The ruined reactor and the nuclear fuel masses on the ground floor below are not really protected by the concrete structure that now partially covers the mess. Rainwater enters the building and carries the radioactivity into the soil and groundwater.
Birds fly through and become contaminated.
International donors have collected millions of dollars to build a new concrete structure over the reactor, but construction has not yet begun. EKOR was certified for use by the Ukrainian government in August after an initial application of the composite at Reactor 4 proved that EKOR is radiation resistant, does not degrade even after long term exposure to radiation, and can withstand extreme physical, chemical and biological assaults on its structural integrity. The substance was developed by Russian scientists at the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow. Some of these scientists went to Chernobyl shortly after the explosion and realized that a way of containing the deadly radiation must be found. The Institute covered the costs of research and development of the polymer.