[ RadSafe ] State operator says Ukraine wants to build 11 nuclear reactors over next 25 years (also pictures from Temecula, CA Wine Country

[Sandy Perle]

NOTE:   I've also posted pictures from Temecula, CA Wine Country
http://sandy-travels.com/temecula.shtml

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State operator says Ukraine wants to build 11 nuclear reactors over 
next 25 years

KIEV, Ukraine (AP)- Ukraine wants to build 11 new nuclear reactors by 
2030 in a strategic move aimed at boosting its energy independence, 
the state-run nuclear operator said Saturday.

The statement was issued after a meeting on Friday between Ukraine's 
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and management of the Energoatom 
company, which operates all nuclear plants in the former Soviet 
republic.

The prime minister's office could not be reached for comment 
Saturday.

In 1986, Ukraine was the site of the world's worst nuclear accident, 
when a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded and caught 
fire, spewing radiation over much of northern Europe.

Ukraine has registered 4,400 deaths. In all, 7 million people in the 
former Soviet republics of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine are believed 
to have suffered health problems as a result of the accident.

Chernobyl's remaining reactors were finally shut down in 2000 and the 
country is still asking Western donors for some US$1 billion (770 
million) to replace a hastily built shelter that secured the 
destroyed reactor's core.

The country needs new nuclear facilities "because the exploitation 
term of Ukraine's oldest reactors expires in 2011," the nuclear 
operator said.

The first two reactors should be built at the Khmelnitsky nuclear 
plant in western Ukraine, Energoatom said. Ukraine also intends to 
modernize its existing reactors, develop a centralized repository for 
nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel, and boost domestic uranium 
production, the statement said.

Ukraine currently operates 15 nuclear reactors, but it is still 
dependent on Russia, its huge neighbor, for much of its energy 
supplies. All existing Ukrainian reactors were built by Russian 
contractors.

The European Union pledged last year to finance safety upgrades at 
the two newest reactors through a multi-million-dollar program also 
assisted by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

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Sandy Perle
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614 

Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714  Extension 2306
Fax:(949) 296-1902 

E-Mail: sperle at dosimetry.com
E-Mail: sandyfl at earthlink.net 

Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/ 
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/