Chernobyl and Ukraine Y2K news articles

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

Monday November 22 12:05 PM ET 

Chernobyl Plans To Restart Reactor  

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - Operators at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant 
carried out preliminary tests Monday for restarting the plant's only 
working reactor after months of repairs.  

``The pre-launch work is being conducted now,'' said Oleh Holoskokov, 
a Chernobyl spokesman. ``Still, I don't know when exactly we would be 
allowed to bring the reactor back on line.''  

The results of the tests will determine when the reactor is 
restarted. Holoskokov said the reactor could be restarted on Thursday 
if no problems are discovered.  

The only operating reactor at the Chernobyl plant, site of the 
world's worst nuclear accident in 1986, was shut down for scheduled 
repairs on July 1. Defects were discovered and repair work lasted 
until this month.  

Ukraine had pledged to fully close down Chernobyl by 2000, but later 
made it conditional on receiving international aid to complete two 
new reactors.  

Ukraine is heavily dependent on nuclear power, and its five atomic 
plants produce more than 40 percent of the former Soviet republic's 
electricity.  

Currently, nine out of Ukraine's 14 nuclear reactors are functioning. 
On Monday, reactor No. 3 at the Yuzhnaya plant was restarted after 
planned repairs and the only reactor at the Khmelnitsky plant resumed 
its operations after being shut down for several days following a 
water leak. 
----------

Tuesday November 23 9:18 AM ET 

Ukraine Sees No Y2K Problems With Nuclear Reactors  

KIEV (Reuters) - The head of Ukraine's nuclear energy authority 
Energoatom said on Tuesday the Y2K computer bug posed no threat to 
the country's Soviet-era nuclear reactors.  

``We have checked and tested all equipment at all reactors,'' Mykola 
Dudchenko told a news conference. ``These checks showed that there is 
no equipment at our stations susceptible to the year 2000 problem in 
management, defense or security systems.''  

Officials in Ukraine, site of the catastrophic 1986 explosion at the 
Chernobyl atomic power station, have said there can be no repeat of 
the disaster in the former Soviet republic on January 1, 2000.  

Computer experts fear the change of date could wreak havoc in any 
country with older computer systems which could fail to recognize the 
last two digits of the year and malfunction.  

A U.S. government report earlier this year said Ukraine's 
electricity, transport, defense and other systems could be vulnerable 
to possible problems and said checks had been slow.  

But a later report said less use of computers made problems due to 
the millennium bug unlikely -- a position which Dudchenko reiterated 
on Tuesday, adding that contingency plans had been worked out just in 
case.  

``We have worked out measures and emergency plans of how to act at 
the atomic reactors in case something does happen after all at the 
station itself or, as is more likely, if there is a communications 
problem -- although we've checked that, too,'' Dudchenko said.  

Ukraine's five nuclear power stations provide almost half of the 
country's electricity needs.  

The Chernobyl station has just one remaining functioning reactor, 
Number Three. The 1986 explosion, which sent radioactive dust 
billowing over neighboring Belarus, Russia and parts of western 
Europe, destroyed reactor Number Four.  

Another reactor was destroyed in a fire in 1992 and another was shut 
in 1997 after it reached the end of its safe lifespan.  

Ukraine had promised the Group of Seven leading industrialized 
nations to shut reactor Number Three by 2000. But it has delayed the 
decision due to a lack of Western funds to help complete two new 
reactors to replace lost capacity.  

Officials said it was still unclear if and when the money would be 
forthcoming, but said technical considerations would force Chernobyl 
to shut in the second half of 2000 regardless of whether new capacity 
was available or not by then.  

``Each year the reactor undergoes lengthy repairs. Its idle periods 
last up to half a year and in theory keeping it in use is becoming 
loss-making,'' Dudchenko said, adding that the reactor was due to be 
switched on this week after repair work. 

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

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/scperle
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