Ukraine's Kuchma gives go-ahead to fix Chernobyl

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@ix.netcom.com>]

Below is an article published by Reuters today. In it the fixing of 
Chernobyl is discussed. There are also the never-ending assertions 
that "Ukraine, which has reported 4,300 deaths and large numbers  
of children vulnerable to thyroid cancer since the disaster...." The 
number seems to continually escalate.  below is the entire article:
    -----------------------------------------------------

  KIEV, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Ukraine President Leonid Kuchma  
said on Saturday that $337 million pledged by various countries 
was enough money to start repair work on the leaking cover 
enclosing Chernobyl's destroyed fourth reactor. 
  An international conference held in New York earlier this  
week pledged a contribution of $37 million to help fix the 
``sarcophagus'' hurriedly constructed after the 1986 accident. 
  The G7 group of industrialised nations earlier promised $300  
million for the project while Ukraine will contribute another 
$150 million. 
  ``Including Ukraine's contribution this is enough to begin  
wide-ranging work on the structure, the sarcophagus,'' Kuchma 
told a news conference after returning from the United States, 
where he also met U.S.Vice-President Al Gore. 
  But he did not detail where cash-strapped Ukraine would  
obtain all the money for the sarcophagus reconstruction plan, 
estimated to cost $760 million and consisting of 22 technically 
complex and perhaps hazardous projects. 
  ``The most important political result was that we were able  
to push forward the issues surrounding this global catastrophe 
and to demonstrate the absolute necessity of solving the 
problems of fixing the sarcophagus,'' Kuchma said in reference 
to the New York conference. 
   Kuchma's statements signalled a turnaround from Ukraine's  
complaints that the funding wasn't enough, after G7 countries 
decided in June to give Ukraine only $300 million instead of the $700
million it had expected. 
  Chernobyl's fourth reactor exploded on April 26, 1986,  
sending a cloud of radiation over Ukraine and parts of Belarus, 
Russia and Europe. Crews of ``liquidators'' dumped concrete on 
to the reactor to form a tomb to contain leaking radiation. 
  Questions remain on how best to repair the concrete covering  
which scientific studies have shown may be leaking radiation. 
  ``The problem of constructing a cover is not a problem to be  
solved in one year, but in 10,'' Kuchma said, adding that many 
studies remained to be done on how to prop up the crumbling 
structure. 
  ``There are still 30 tonnes of nuclear fuel missing. Where  
are they? Are they inside, or where?'' he said. 
  Ukraine, which has reported 4,300 deaths and large numbers  
of children vulnerable to thyroid cancer since the disaster, has
promised to close Chernobyl's last operating reactor by the year 2000
in exchange for $3.1 billion in funding from international donours. 
  Kuchma said there were discussions at the conference on  
forming an international fund to help Ukraine-- independent 
since 1991 but left to pay for the Soviet-era disaster -- 
contend with the aftermath of the disaster. 
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Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Office: (800) 548-5100 x2306 
Fax:    (714) 668-3149
  
sandyfl@ix.netcom.com
sperle@icnpharm.com

Personal Homepage:
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1205

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