"Giant Shield Begins Sliding Over Chernobyl Reactor"

"A huge shelter has begun making its way to Chernobyl nuclear reactor No. 4."

"Five days.

That's how long it will take for what is being described as “the largest moveable land-based structure ever built” to slide into place over Chernobyl’s reactor 4, scene of the world’s worst nuclear accident some 30 years ago, in an effort to prevent radiation from leaking out for another 100 years.

The Soviet-era power plant, situated in Ukraine’s northern reaches, close to the border with Belarus, suffered a meltdown and explosion in 1986, since which time the reactor at the heart of the disaster has been encased in a tomb of steel and concrete. But because of persisting levels of radiation, maintenance has been impossible, and building a replacement housing structure on site has been equally inadvisable."

Jason Thomson reports for the Christian Science Monitor November 14, 2016.