CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT TOO DANGEROUS TO CONTINUE OPERATING, REPLACEMENTS MUST NOT BE NUCLEAR : GREENPEACE

5 June 2000

MOSCOW -- Today's announced December 15 closure date for the Chernobyl nuclear power station, represented nearly a year-long delay in the shutdown which could lead to an increased risk of nuclear accident, Greenpeace said today.

Confidential documents from the Ukranian nuclear regulator (NRA), obtained by Greenpeace, reveal that the so-called 'gap closure' has become an imminent safety problem at the Chernobyl-3 nuclear power plant. The documents state that the gap between the fuel rods and the graphite block has become so small over the 18 years of operation, that fuel rods could rupture, causing a severe reactor accident. According to an NRA report from June 1999 this risk becomes 'unacceptable' after 250 days of operation from November 25th 1999. Today there are 60 of these 250 days left. The December 15 closure date is 193 days away and so the Chernobyl reactor can only safely operate for less than a third of that time.

Greenpeace International nuclear spokesperson Tobias Muenchmeyer said the G7 countries had failed to use their considerable economic and political power to ensure the Ukrainian government closed Chernobyl 'by the year 2000' as was agreed in a Memorandum of Understanding between the G7 and Ukraine. Muenchmeyer was commenting on today's announcement by Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma during the visit by United States President Bill Clinton to Kiev.

"The G7 have exposed the people of Europe to an unacceptable risk by failing to ensure the Ukrainian government closed down the Chernobyl nuclear power plant by 2000," said Muenchmeyer. "And even today's announcement allows the plant to potentially operate beyond the date by which the Ukrainian regulator says there will be an 'unacceptable risk' of a serious nuclear accident."

Greenpeace urged the G7 countries to finance non-nuclear alternatives to replace the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. Currently the G7 are considering completing the construction of two new nuclear power plants, Khmelnitsky-2 and Rovno-4 ("K2/R4"). However on May 23rd 2000 the Foreign ministers of Germany, Sweden and Austria stated that the EU can only finance the construction of non-nuclear power stations in Ukraine.

"The G7 must not repeat previous mistakes by replacing nuclear power plants with more nuclear power plants in the Ukraine, which are dangerous, polluting and uneconomic. There are viable alternative energy solutions for the Ukraine which the G7 should be funding" said Muenchmeyer.

Chernobyl's role in the energy sector of Ukraine has become more and more marginal. Due to the increasing number of malfunctions and outages the amount of electricity has dropped from 4.8 TWh in 1998 to 3.3 TWh in 1999. Its share in the total electricity generation of Ukraine has decreased from 3.1% in 1998 to 2.1% in 1999 while revenues generated for the operator, Energoatom, decreased from US$ 6.6 million in 1998 to US$ 4.9 million in 1999, falling far short of the operation, maintenance and repair costs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
- Tobias Muenchmeyer Nuclear Campaigner, Phone: +49 30 440 58 960