NUCLEAR experts from Warrington will help to clean-up the source of the world's worst nuclear disaster.
Risley-based British Nuclear Fuels Ltd has landed a multi-million pound deal to make a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power station safe.
The plant's Number Four reactor melted-down 12 years ago. The explosion and radioactive contamination are believed to have killed more than 4,000 people and affected the health of 3.5 million people.
BNFL is part of a consortium which will make the reactor and its containment 'sarcophagus' stable and environmentally safe.
Chairman John Guinness visited the station as part of a site inspection to announce the clean-up deal. He said: "This demonstrates BNFL's continuing commitment to work closely with the Ukraine and that we understand the major difficulties in cleaning up Chernobyl."
The company also handed over radiation monitoring equipment worth £120,000 to survey contamination inside the reactor.
Spokesman Alan Hughes added: "It is going to mean a lot of work for BNFL in the future. We will be taking expertise from around the company and that will involve people working at Risley."
Work on the reactor is likely to begin in 2000.
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