According to data provided by the Audit Chamber of Ukraine, the timeline for environmental cleanup work in Chernobyl, the site of the nuclear power plant disaster, has been pushed back by five to seven years. This is despite the fact that funding for the project has almost twice exceeded original estimations, reported Belta. 

The financing of Chernobyl conservation efforts come from resources provided by donor-countries, which are kept in a specially created account at the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development. The current deposits in the account total $1.2 billion.

The Chernobyl tragedy of 1986 affected 3.5 million people.  Currently, approximately 10% of Ukraine’s territory is contaminated by radiation. The affected territories are home to 5 million people, including those living in Belarus and Russia.

This information was originally published March 17, 2007 (www.belta.by).