Chernobyl Nuclear Fuel Rod Damaged

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

Thursday July 15 1:26 PM ET 

Chernobyl Nuclear Fuel Rod Damaged

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - A nuclear fuel rod was damaged during repairs at 
the Chernobyl nuclear power plant today, but the incident caused no 
radiation leaks, a plant spokesman said.  

It was the second problem reported at reactor No. 3 since it was shut 
for repairs July 1.

Workers were putting the rod back in place today when they 
accidentally bent a metal pipe that is attached to the rod and used 
to insert it into a proper channel in the reactor, said the 
spokesman, Oleh Holoskokov.   

He said a worker who operated a special machine for inserting the 
fuel rod started to withdraw the machine when the rod was still 
joined to it and bent the pipe.  

The incident did not affect the section of the rod containing nuclear 
fuel and didn't lead to any radiation leaks, Holoskokov told The 
Associated Press.  

He said the incident corresponded to Level 1 on the 7-level 
International Nuclear Event Scale, which is used to assess the 
seriousness of events at nuclear plants worldwide. The International 
Atomic Energy Agency describes Level 1 incidents as ``functional or 
operational anomalies which do not pose a risk but which indicate a 
lack of safety provisions.''  

Last week, repair workers damaged one of the reactor's safety rods 
used to regulate the intensity of nuclear reaction inside the 
reactor.  

Holoskokov said Chernobyl officials were ordered to stop working with 
fuel rods until an investigation into Thursday's accident is 
completed.  

Reactor No. 3 remains the only operational reactor at Chernobyl after 
the 1986 explosion in reactor No. 4, the world's worst nuclear 
accident. Reactor No. 3 is expected to stay idle until November.  

Ukraine has promised to shut Chernobyl by 2000, but wants to secure 
international aid first to complete two other nuclear reactors to 
compensate for the energy loss the closure would cause. 

Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -
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