Chornobyl plant's No. 1 reactor is shut down - at least for now (12/08/96)

Chornobyl plant's No. 1 reactor is shut down - at least for now

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Ukraine shut down reactor No. 1 of the Chornobyl nuclear power station on November 30 at 10 p.m. However, a memorandum received from the Ukrainian Energy Ministry was not clear on whether the shutdown was permanent.

Officials of the power plant submitted a letter to the ministry stating that reactor No. 1 would be halted "to conduct technical operations," reported Interfax-Ukraine.

Ukraine agreed to shut down reactor No. 1 in April at a Moscow meeting that it attended of the Group of Seven leading industrialized states. In a memorandum of understanding the G-7 agreed to help with financing and technical assistance to close the entire complex by the year 2000, to help secure the leaking sarcophagus of the No. 4 reactor, which blew up in 1986 in the world's worst nuclear accident, and to help Ukraine develop alternative energy sources. To date, Ukraine has received little of the promised money and has resisted until now any closure.

The 800-megawatt power plant will remain "switched-off until further notice," according to Interfax-Ukraine, which leaves only reactor No. 3 functioning.

However, the State Nuclear Energy Commission released a statement on November 28 that it has plans to restart reactor No. 2 after overhaul operations are completed in the fourth quarter of 1997.

Greenpeace announced on November 30 that it welcomed the closure of reactor No. 1, but because the third power unit is connected physically to the infamous reactor No. 4, no work on sealing the sarcophagus could realistically begin without shutting down that reactor as well.

Alexey Pasyuk of Greenpeace said it is not efficient to operate the Chornobyl complex from any perspective and that alternative energy sources and energy efficiency programs could meet Ukraine's needs. "For any product to be produced in Ukraine requires at least three times more energy than in Western Europe," said Mr. Pasyuk. "Chornobyl unit No. 3 produces only 1 percent of Ukraine's energy, while about 40 percent of energy produced in Ukraine is lost through inefficiency."

With the closing of unit No. 1, Ukraine now has 14 operating nuclear reactors producing 14,000 megawatts of electricity. The Chornobyl reactor accounted for 6.2 percent of Ukraine's over-all output and 16 percent of nuclear-generated power.