European Union pledges more funds for Chornobyl aid at summit with Ukraine (08/01/99)

European Union pledges more funds for Chornobyl aid at summit with Ukraine

by Stefan Korshak
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - The European Union has promised $210 million in new Chornobyl assistance, but Ukraine says that's not nearly enough to close the nuclear energy plant by the end of the century.

EU officials announced the commitment July 23 at the third EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv.

The cash will go toward patching up the concrete and steel sarcophagus built around Chornobyl's No. 4 reactor, site of the world's worst nuclear power accident.

President Leonid Kuchma said at a July 23 press conference that, although appreciated, the latest EU assistance does not address the key aspect of the Chornobyl equation: how to replace Chornobyl's energy output once the sole functioning reactor is turned off.

"It [Chornobyl] will continue to run until other sources of electricity can be found," President Kuchma told reporters at Marininsky Palace. "We have no alternatives."

Shut off frequently for maintenance or due to safety warnings, Chornobyl reactor No. 3 churns out between 5 percent and 8 percent of Ukraine's electricity. Greenpeace believes the amount is even smaller, more like 2 percent. Chornobyl's management says it is higher.

Western countries want to get the aging, dangerous plant turned off. But they have not contributed anywhere close to the $1.4 billion needed, by many estimates, for alternative energy sources. There is also disagreement in the West about what those alternative sources of energy should be.

Ukraine wants $1.2 billion to complete construction of nuclear power stations in Rivne and Khmelnytskyi. Ukrainian and G-7 decision-makers agreed in 1995 that the pair were Chornobyl's best possible replacements by the end of the century.

Ukraine has committed $50 million as its agreed contribution to the effort. But, so far, the G-7 leadership has dithered on how exactly to pick up the remainder of a $1.15 billion tab.

The West's interim solution has been to dribble payments to Ukraine for maintenance and report of Chornobyl's sarcophagus. Ukraine will have received some $650 million of such payments once the latest European Union commitment is received.

But, given the second thoughts in the West over supporting nuclear power in Ukraine, nobody has come up with the cash necessary to make Rivne and Khmelnytskyi a reality.

"They should be gentlemen ... If Ukraine and the G-7 made a decision it should be implemented and not discussed," the Associated Press quoted President Kuchma as saying.

Foreigners have other ideas, however. Last month, standing firmly on the non-nuclear plank of the Green wing of his Social Democrat ruling coalition, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder visited Kyiv to try and have Rivne and Khmelnytskyi converted from nuclear to conventional fuel.

Germany's environmental minister, Juergen Trittin, lobbied for brown coal-fired mini-power plants. Messrs. Kuchma and Schroeder agreed the idea merited study, but to date Mr. Schroeder's visit has brought no Chornobyl-replacement money Ukraine's way.

At last Friday's press conference, European Union spokesmen conceded the $210 million sarcophagus patch-up once again had sidestepped the Chornobyl electricity replacement question.

The ball now bounces to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Union officials said. "They [the EBRD] will be taking up this question in the autumn," said Finnish Premier Paavo Lipponen. "The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development shall, probably, also face these realities."

But the EBRD has traditionally been unwilling to invest in unprofitable projects, and Ukraine's leadership is not banking on an EBRD bailout. "Ukraine has not stopped, it is continuing work on the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi reactors," President Kuchma said. "Without a doubt, the Chornobyl nuclear power station must be closed," he said. "If there is a favorable answer from the side of the bank [EBRD], we will be able to take the reactor off line for good."

"Chornobyl's only operational reactor can keep working for as long as we need to complete the compensatory reactors ourselves," said Mr. Kuchma.

Ukraine also left the summit with EU with another $158 million to support the nation's financial and banking sectors, Mr. Lipponen said. "The aid is designed to support Ukraine's financial system, assist the National Bank of Ukraine in strengthening its controlling function and the purely commercial functions of commercial banks," a European Union press release said.

Ukrainian and European Union representatives also signed numerous agreements covering nuclear safety and research, radioactive waste management and nuclear science.

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