Ukraine's Chernobyl Plant Shut Down

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

It would be fortunate if this unit is still undergoing maintenance 
when the clock ticks midnight on the 31st.

Thursday December 2 7:22 AM ET 

Ukraine's Chernobyl Plant Shut Down  

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - The only working reactor at the Chernobyl 
nuclear power plant was shut down when a leak was detected in a 
water pipe, just six days after the plant was restarted, officials said 
today.  

Chernobyl operators found the tiny leak in a pipeline of the backup 
cooling system during a planned examination, the Chernobyl press 
service said. The water in the pipe does not work in the nuclear 
reactor itself, but provides pressure to the reactor's cooling system. 
 

The reactor was turned off Wednesday, said Oleh Holoskokov, a 
Chernobyl spokesman. He said there were no radiation leaks.  

Holoskokov said a week would be needed to repair the leak and 
that the reactor, the plant's only working one, should be restarted 
by Dec. 9.  

Chernobyl was shut down for repairs on July 1 and was restarted 
last Friday.  

Plant officials insist the reactor is safe, even though Western 
governments and environmental groups have urged the former 
Soviet republic to shut it down for good.  

Chernobyl's reactor No. 4 exploded in 1986, sending a radioactive 
cloud over much of Europe. That reactor is covered by a steel-and-
concrete sarcophagus that is currently undergoing repairs.  

A 1995 agreement between Ukraine and the Group of Seven 
leading industrialized nations said the plant should be closed by 
the year 2000.  

But Ukraine has said it doesn't have the $1.2 billion needed to 
finish construction of two new reactors to replace the output that 
would be lost by closing Chernobyl.  

The government has said it plans to shut down the nuclear power 
plant sometime next year and has called on the West to provide 
the necessary funds.  

Ukraine's five nuclear power plants, with 14 reactors, provide 40 
percent of the country's electricity. At any given time, several of the 
reactors are down for repairs, but Ukraine says it can't afford to 
shut any of the plants down until more are built.
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