July 1 KIEV [Reuter, "Minimal Radiation Leaks at Chernobyl"]. A small amount of radiation was released in one of two working reactors at the Chernobyl power station, site of the world's worst nuclear disaster, plant staff and Ukraine's nuclear authority said Monday.
Galina Nosach, an engineer at the station 90 miles north of Kiev, said the leak occurred in a corridor in the main room of Chernobyl's reactor No. 1.
She said the incident rated zero on the 0-7 international scale of ``nuclear events'' and posed no threat to staff or the environment. It was the latest in a long series of incidents at the plant, due to close by the end of the century.
``It's still not clear why this happened,'' Nosach said by telephone. ``Why does there have to be such a fuss about every little trivial occurrence? This can happen at any station. But we do understand that our station is viewed as a special one.''
Tetyana Yagish, a rep for Ukraine's nuclear authority, said the leak was at levels five times higher than normal in a corridor used by staff. ``They discovered it Friday and completed the clean-up operation Saturday,'' she said.
Yagish said the leak occurred as staff were monitoring he insides of the reactor using television cameras. The incident was the second in two weeks at the station, where two reactors still produce about 5% of Ukraine's electricity. Last week, a fire broke out at a storage shed near the third reactor, but was quickly extinguished.
President Leonid Kuchma last year promised to close Chernobyl for good by the end of the century and G7 wealthy nations have pledged more than $3 billion in aid and grants to complete the operation. Reactor No. 1 is to close by November.
But Ukrainian officials claim the money is not being released quickly enough to get started.
The April 26, 1986, fire and explosion in Chernobyl's fourth reactor sent radiation billowing across most of Europe and contaminated large stretched of land in the former Soviet Union. Ukraine says the disaster caused at least 4,300 deaths.
Western experts say the station is inherently safe despite major changes and upgrading since the disaster.
In an incident on the eve of the 10th anniversary, spent filters left unattended by staff contaminated four parts of the station. And in last year's most serious occurrence, a workman received a year's permitted dose of radiation when a seal was broken on a container holding nuclear fuel.
Sep 21 Vienna. Ukraine has confirmed 2 detected rises in radioactivity at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant over the past 8 days, but has played down the impact of the incidents. The Min'y for Environmental Protection told the International Atomic Energy Agency there had been no releases of radioactivity to the environment, and no on-site contamination. It said an investigation into the incidents -- on Sep 12 and again on Mon -- was "continuing".
Sep 25 Kiev. A Minister says Ukraine is reviewing how to deal with the cracking of the "tomb" around Chernobyl's ruined reactor No 4, after a "chain reaction" was observed there last week. Env Min Yuri Kostenko's comments are the 1st admission that the increased reading of neutron activity at the Chernobyl power stn, 10 y after reactor No 4 exploded, amount to a limited nuclear chain reaction occurring inside the structure. But Kostenko said the data was "insufficient" to determine whether the reaction posed a "real threat".
Sep 24 KIEV [Reuter, "Ukraine Reviews How To Make Chernobyl Safer"]. Ukraine's chief negotiator on closing the Chernobyl nuclear power plant said Tuesday authorities were reviewing how to make the "tomb" around its ruined fourth reactor safer after a chain reaction last week.
Environment Minister Yuri Kostenko's comments were the first admission that increased readings of neutron activity amounted to a limited chain reaction inside the reactor 10 years after it exploded in the world's worst nuclear accident.
But he said data was insufficient to determine whether it posed a real threat.
"As we are observing a chain reaction in the ruined reactor, we have to review our strategy and take decisions to make the sarcophagus safer," Kostenko told a news conference.
"What we are observing shows that we must resolve the problem of nuclear fuel inside. By some means or other we must remove as much fuel as possible to rule out the development of chain reactions inside the devastated reactor."
Kostenko said meters last week showed neutron radiation at dozens of times the normal levels inside the cracking concrete and steel covering, hurriedly erected after the disaster.
He said heavy rains seeping through the estimated 1,000 square meters of cracks in the structure had increased neutron activity. Levels have since returned to normal but Kostenko said that without further research "it is therefore difficult to determine the extent of the threat."
Ukrainian officials last week described the higher readings as dangerous and called for swifter efforts to replace the sarcophagus.
They said such temporary increases had been recorded at least three times in the past decade. But Western experts said levels thousands of times higher than normal would be required to cause a new nuclear reaction.
The wealthy Group of Seven countries have pledged more than $3 billion to help Ukraine keep its promise to close Chernobyl's two working reactors by the year 2000.
But Ukrainian officials have complained the money is not being distributed quickly enough to begin projects.
Ministers say the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster, which spilled radiation all over Europe, still soaks up large chunks of the struggling former Soviet republic's budget. The disaster is blamed for more than 4,300 deaths in Ukraine alone.
Officials also say Western experts have concentrated on restructuring Ukraine's inefficient energy sector and neglected reconstruction of the sarcophagus. Chernobyl still provides 5% of Ukraine's electricity.
A project drawn up by a Franco-British consortium three years ago to build a new sarcophagus has made no progress and is to be discussed at a G7 meeting in Paris next month.
Western experts have said that project is too expensive and called for cheaper alternatives to persuade Western countries to provide financing.