Chernobyl’s Hot Mess, “the Elephant’s Foot,” Is Still Lethal (2013)

I think this article is very well-written overall. However, there are still a point that could use clarification. > During a routine test on April 26, 1986, reactor Number 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant experienced a power surge that triggered an emergency shutdown. It did not work. Calling the incident a routine test greatly mischaracterizes what they were doing. This wasn't some sort of daily safety checklist test nor a safety margin test, this was a full-blown experiment…

(2013) Since this article was published, the “New Safe Confinement” has been completed: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_New_Safe_Confineme...

<During a routine test on April 26, 1986, reactor Number 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant experienced a power surge that triggered an emergency shutdown.> Not routine. Operators disabled numerous safety features to perform a turbine spin-down test before shutting down the reactor for scheduled maintenance. The power surge was due to putting the reactor in an unstable state before shutdown. The safety features they bypassed were designed to keep the reactor out of the unstable operating region.

This is 2013. Wiki says as of 2019, the mass has not moved significantly since its discovery and is estimated to be only slightly warmer than its environment due to heat from the ongoing nuclear decay I believe I've also read there is a more significant risk from dry dust, than anything else, which the giant sarcophagus has mostly resolved: its a contained problem.