Chernobyl plant building to be covered

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CHERNOBYL, Ukraine, March 2 (UPI) -- A section of Chernobyl's nuclear power plant that recently collapsed will be closed with a temporary cover, officials said.

Wall panels and parts of the roof caved in on the Reactor Number Four at the plant on Feb. 12, RIA Novosti reported.

Chernobyl NPP technical director and chief engineer Andrei Bilyk said the temporary cover was recommended by experts who visited the plant last week.

"Our specialists, including the technical service, are currently studying technical options of how to close this hole with a temporary cover. We have the technology, have the equipment, we are able to do it," Bilyk said, adding that the cover will be finished by May.

Experts who examined the building, which was the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster, said the structure's current condition as "stable" and that the collapse did not affect the safety of the damaged reactor's cover

"We came to a conclusion that there will be no further collapses. We expect no domino effect," Bilyk said.