Cuba shelves controversial Juragua nuclear plant

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

Cuba shelves controversial Juragua nuclear plant
  
HAVANA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Cuba has abandoned plans to complete an 
unfinished Soviet-designed nuclear power plant on the Caribbean 
island that U.S. critics had seen as a potential security risk on 
their doorstep, state media said on Tuesday. 

Cuban officials were quoted as saying that President Fidel Castro's 
government had given up on the idea of resuscitating the Juragua 
plant, in the central province of Cienfuegos, because it was not 
economically viable. 

"There is no sense in finishing the electro-nuclear plant," said 
Osvaldo Martinez, a senior official who heads the National Assembly's 
economic commission. 

Despite speculation Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit last 
week would help revive the nuclear plant in a joint venture, local 
officials told the Moscow delegation they were not interested. 

Work on the first of two planned Soviet-designed pressurized water 
reactors at Juragua started in the early 1980s, but was halted by 
Havana in 1992 because Moscow could no longer immediately support the 
project following the break-up of the Soviet Union. 

The first reactor was only partially complete. 

Havana's decision to abandon the Juragua project will please critics 
in the U.S., including conservative legislators, nuclear experts and 
Washington officials, who had voiced fears over the plant's safety if 
it were completed. 

Moscow and Havana had previously announced several times intentions 
to revive the project, which is estimated to need at least $600 
million of additional investment. 

But in a weekend speech Castro emphasized Cuba was now looking at non-
nuclear energy initiatives, such as a natural gas-powered electricity 
generating joint venture established with Canada's Sherritt 
International Corp. <S.TO>. 

He said this venture, which has been operating for a year and uses 
gas from domestic Cuban oil wells, was more efficient and less 
expensive than the Juragua nuclear project. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.			E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html