Germany Urges Non-Nuclear Alternative to Chernobyl on Closure

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Germany Urges Non-Nuclear Alternative to Chernobyl on Closure
  
Berlin, June 6 (Bloomberg) -- Germany welcomed Ukraine's decision to 
close down the Chernobyl nuclear plant by the end of this year and 
urged the Ukrainian government to examine non- nuclear alternatives 
for its energy supply. 

Germany has organized a donor conference in Berlin on July 5 to raise 
funds to repair the cement coating poured over a Chernobyl reactor 
after it exploded 14 years ago in the world's worst ever nuclear 
accident. The German government has already contributed $50 million 
to repairs, Environment Minister Juergen Trittin said in a statement. 

Trittin, a member of the ecologically-minded Green Party, called on 
Ukraine to focus on ``the necessary modernization of the energy 
sector.'' He drew attention to his ministry's proposal for a biomass 
combustion plant in the Chernobyl area instead of the new nuclear 
reactors planned by Ukraine. 

U.S. President Bill Clinton and Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma 
said yesterday the cleanup of Chernobyl will be completed by Dec. 15 
and the plant closed permanently before the end of the year. To 
replace Chernobyl, the European Bank for Reconstruction and 
Development is considering a $170 million loan, part of $1.7 billion 
in proposed financing to the two new nuclear plants Ukraine wants to 
build. 

Germany is negotiating with utilities such as RWE AG and Veba AG on 
closing down the country's 19 nuclear reactors and opposes the 
Ukrainian plan to build new ones, holding up European funding for 
Chernobyl's replacements. 

Decontamination 

Trittin said biomass combustion plants, which produce energy by 
burning plant matter such as tree trimmings, grass and peat moss, 
would be both economically viable and help ``decontaminate the still 
radioactive woods around Chernobyl.'' 

Antje Radcke, chairwoman of the Green Party, the junior party in 
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's ruling coalition, called on 
international lenders and the European Union ``to use the decision to 
close Chernobyl as an opportunity to help Ukraine build a modern and 
ecological energy supply.'' 

``Ukraine should use the available funds for highly efficient gas-
powered turbine plants as a replacement for the clapped-out Chernobyl 
reactor,'' she proposed.

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
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