More than three decades on, the world's worst-ever nuclear disaster is still having a devastating impact - as fears of nuclear catastrophe soared yesterday after Russian troops captured the Chernobyl reactor site
Kremlin forces captured the site of the horrific nuclear disaster, Ukraine officials said prompting fears of nuclear waste blowing over Europe.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine's presidential office, yesterday admitted it was "impossible" to say the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was safe after the attack.
He added: "This is one of the most serious threats in Europe today."
Before the takeover, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted: "Our defenders are giving their lives so the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated. This is a declaration of war against the whole of Europe."
In 1986, a reactor at Chernobyl exploded during a routine test - resulting in horrific and deadly injuries for residents and workers alike.
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone lies on the shortest path between Russia's and Ukraine's capital, Kyiv
The once-bustling town of Pripyat is still eerily deserted - and was a bizarre tourist attraction for travellers intrigued by the disaster, before recent events.
The area surrounding the town still records alarming levels of radiation, making it inhabitable and impossible for residents to ever return.
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At the time, it was feared that huge clouds of radioactive smoke could cover Europe, causing a further loss of life.
Authorities initially tried to hide that something had happened but it became impossible to hide as citizens fell ill with severe headaches, vomiting and hacking coughs.
A day after the explosion, buses finally arrived, allowing citizens to escape the deadly nightmare.
Dozens of heroic workers tried to put out the flames and make the reactor safe following the explosion.
Many sacrificed their own lives to save others, with many working around the clock to dump the sand on the structure and prevent a further loss of life.
Across the Soviet Union, coal miners were drafted in to help dig under the core and create a pool of liquid nitrogen to cool the nuclear fuel.
Finally, when the flames were contained, a massive concrete structure was erected - it took 206 days to build the first sarcophagus.
Workers used 400,000 cubic metres of concrete and 7,300 tonnes of metal framework in its construction.
Yaroslav Melnik, a firefighter brought in to help, recalled the incredible effort: “We worked in three shifts, but only for five to seven minutes at a time because of the danger.
“After finishing, we'd throw our clothes in the garbage.”
Dubbed the 'liquidators', thousands of these workers suffered long-term effects from acute radiation exposure.
It was hoped that the structure would contain the deadly radiation leaking from the plant - but experiments showed dangerous levels were still escaping.
This required a bigger, more permanent solution - after all, the initial structure was only meant to be temporary.
Experts doubted such a feat of engineering would be impossible - as it needed to halt radiation from seeping out and entomb the plant.
It had been hoped it would contain the deadly radiation leaking from the nuclear plant -but dangerous levels were still escaping every day.
And this huge structure was only designed to be temporary -30 years after the explosion, things had become critical once again.
A solution was needed that would prevent the radiation from seeping out at such a rapid rate and keep the reactor entombed for as long as possible.
Finally, a group came up with a clever plan to cover the entire sarcophagus, with the reactor still inside it.
It was a mammoth task - and needed to be built next to the still radioactive site, and then moved to its final position, without risking workers safety.
Projections predicted it would cost more than £240 million.
In 1999, Vince Novak, director of nuclear safety at the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, told how difficult it was to preserve the initial sturcture.
A closer examination revealed it was so precarious that it could have collapsed at any time, potentially risking another Chernobyl disaster.
He said: “The Soviets had lowered the beams into that sarcophagus using helicopters and the whole structure of the roof was in fact built the same way, using helicopters.
“Pieces had been dropped in one by one and not tied together.
“They were just sitting there and what quickly became apparent was that either these beams were sliding or that the wall was moving.
“It came to a point where the further movement of an inch or so would have led to the huge beams falling down. You would have a collapse of the shelter.”
Segments were shipped from Italy to Ukraine, before being transported by road - with around 18 ships and 2,5000 trucks used in total.
It took more than two years to assemble the structure, which included a ventilation system and remote-controlled robotic cranes to dismantle the existing structure and reactor.
Finally, it was erected on 29 November 2016, a mammoth but vital endeavour to make the world safe from the continuing threat of Chernobyl.
