DATE=05/02/96 TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP NUMBER=6-09557 TITLE=CHERNOBYL'S TENTH ANNIVERSARY BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE TELEPHONE=619-3335 DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=PHIL HAYNES / NEAL LAVON CONTENT= INTRO: THE WORLD NOTED THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY LAST WEEK OF A FIRE AT THE CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT WHICH SPEWED RADIOACTIVITY FOR THOUSANDS OF HECTARES. THE ACCIDENT CAUSED AUTHORITIES THE WORLD OVER TO RE-THINK THE FEASIBILITY OF NUCLEAR POWER. MANY IN THE U-S PRESS REMEMBERED THE ANNIVERSARY WITH A VARIETY OF COMMENTS. WE GET A SAMPLING NOW FROM ___________________ IN TODAY'S U-S OPINION ROUNDUP. TEXT: THE REACTOR FIRE SPREAD RADIOACTIVITY FAR ENOUGH TO KILL ABOUT 30 PEOPLE IMMEDIATELY OR WITHIN DAYS, INCLUDING SOME OF THE HEROIC FIREMEN WHO TRIED TO PUT OUT THE FIRE WITHOUT PROPER PROTECTIVE CLOTHING. LATER, AT LEAST FIVE MILLION PEOPLE WERE ESTIMATED TO HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO DANGEROUS RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT IN PARTS OF UKRAINE, BELARUS AND RUSSIA, AS WELL AS A SMALL PORTION OF POLAND. [OPT] CHILDREN BORN IN THE REGION SINCE THE FIRE HAVE SUFFERED A HIGHER-THAN-NORMAL NUMBER OF BIRTH DEFECTS THAT SOME SCIENTISTS RELATE TO THE ACCIDENT. AND AT LEAST 18 VILLAGES, INCLUDING THE TOWN OF CHERNOBYL ITSELF, HAVE BEEN DECLARED A RADIOACTIVE HOT ZONE WERE NO ONE IS OFFICIALLY SUPPOSED TO LIVE. HOWEVER SOME OF THE ELDERLY UKRAINIAN PEASANTS FROM THOSE VILLAGES, WHO DON'T FULLY UNDERSTAND THE DANGER, HAVE MOVED BACK. [END OPT] MEANWHILE, THE WORLD'S PRESS DEBATES THE LESSONS LEARNED AT CHERNOBYL. MANY COUNTRIES CONTINUE TO COPE WITH THE EVER-EXPANDING NEED FOR COST-EFFECTIVE ELECTRIC POWER VERSUS THE POTENTIAL DANGERS OF SUCH PLANTS AND THE GROWING PROBLEM OF WHAT TO DO WITH RADIOACTIVE WASTE. WE BEGIN OUR SAMPLING OF EDITORIAL COMMENT ON THE CHERNOBYL ANNIVERSARY WITH "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES": TEXT: "WHILE MOST OF THE RADIOACTIVE MOLECULES IN THE CHERNOBYL EXCLUSION ZONE MAY HAVE SUNK INTO THE SOIL, THE POLITICAL FALLOUT FROM THE DISASTER CONTINUES TO RAIN DOWN IN THE UNITED STATES AFFECTING SUCH ISSUES AS REACTOR RELICENSING AND WASTE STORAGE. PRO- AND ANTI-NUCLEAR FORCES EACH SEE LESSONS IN THE CHERNOBYL DISASTER THAT BOLSTER THEIR DEEPLY HELD VIEWS. MEANWHILE, MUCH OF THE PUBLIC, ALONG WITH ITS ELECTED OFFICIALS, REMAINS AS BEWILDERED BY THE PROMISE AND THE RISKS OF COMMERCIAL NUCLEAR POWER AS WHEN NEWS OF THE CHERNOBYL DISASTER BROKE. .....THE CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT OCCURRED AT A TIME WHEN CONSTRUCTION OF NEW U-S POWER PLANTS WAS AT A STANDSTILL, DUE IN PART TO SPIRALING COSTS. NOW A NEW CYCLE IS AT HAND. WITHIN THE NEXT TEN YEARS, MOST U-S PLANTS WILL APPROACH THE END OF THEIR 40-YEAR OPERATING LICENSES. UTILITIES MUST EITHER GET A FEDERAL EXTENSION TO CONTINUE OPERATING OR BUILD NEW PLANTS; EITHER WAY THEY WILL FACE A PUBLIC SOMETIMES SKEPTICAL ABOUT NUCLEAR SAFETY. THE POISONOUS WINDS OF CHERNOBYL STILL SWIRL." TEXT: IN NEW ENGLAND, MEANWHILE, "THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR" AGREES WITH THAT ASSESSMENT. VOICE: "TEN YEARS AFTER A REACTOR EXPLODED AT THE CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN UKRAINE, THE REPERCUSSIONS ARE STILL BEING FELT. ..... THE DISASTER IS A HUMBLING LESSON FROM A CARELESS APPROACH TO MODERN TECHNOLOGY. ..... THE SOVIETS .... BUILT NO CONTAINMENT OVER THEIR REACTORS BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED THERE WOULD NEVER BE AN ACCIDENT TO CONTAIN. AS THE SOVIET UNION BEGAN TO OPEN UP ..... MUCH MORE BECAME KNOW ABOUT THE ACCIDENT'S EFFECTS .... DOCTORS SAY MEDICAL PROBLEMS IN THE AREA HAVE SKYROCKETED. THOUSANDS OF ACRES IN UKRAINE AND BELARUS ARE WORTHLESS FOR AGRICULTURAL USE, AND WILL REMAIN SO FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. ..... THE WORLD CANNOT AFFORD ANOTHER CHERNOBYL." TEXT: IN FLORIDA, "THE MIAMI HERALD" SAYS IT WAS NOT ONLY UKRAINIAN VILLAGERS, FIREMEN AND FARM ANIMALS THAT FELL VICTIM TO THE DEADLY FIRE AND RADIATION. VOICE: "ANOTHER CASUALTY OF CHERNOBYL WAS TECHNOLOGY'S HUBRIS. THE UNTHINKABLE HAD HAPPENED. GRANTED, THE CHERNOBYL REACTOR HAD A FAULTY DESIGN, SHODDY WORKMANSHIP, AND A POORLY TRAINED CREW. IN MUCH OF THE WORLD, NUCLEAR POWER REMAINS A RELATIVELY SAFE ENERGY SOURCE. ...... AS IF TO REMIND THE WORLD OF TODAY'S ANNIVERSARY, A BRUSH FIRE NEAR CHERNOBYL BURNED OUT OF CONTROL THIS WEEK. IT SENT RADIOACTIVE DUST AND DEBRIS OVER A WIDE AREA. THE REACTOR IS ENTOMBED, BUT ITS GHOST STILL STALKS THE LAND." TEXT: AND YET ANOTHER CHILLING THOUGHT FROM "THE WASHINGTON TIMES," WHICH POINTS OUT A CHERNOBYL DANGER IS MUCH CLOSER TO THE UNITED STATES - - ABOUT 144 KILOMETERS - - THAN MANY PEOPLE REALIZE. VOICE: "OF EVEN GREATER CONCERN FOR AMERICANS ..... IS THAT CHERNOBYL COULD HAPPEN AROUND HERE. THE CULPRIT ....... TWO NUCLEAR REACTORS THAT ARE ... BEING ERECTED BY THE RUSSIANS IN CUBA, IN ..... CIENFUEGOS. THE DESIGN ..... IS UNSAFE, THE COMPONENTS DEFECTIVE, QUALITY CONTROL INADEQUATE, AND JUST FOR GOOD MEASURE, A SEISMIC SITE IN THE AREA IS ACTIVE. ..... THESE REACTORS ..... ARE A CATASTROPHE WAITING TO HAPPEN." TEXT: FOR OUR LAST WORD, WE TURN TO THE MIDWEST, AND THAT REGION'S LARGEST DAILY "THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE," WHICH WRITES IN PART: VOICE: "ON THIS TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EXPLOSION AND FIRE ..... IT IS DIFFICULT TO DIVINE [HERE "ASCERTAIN" OR POSSIBLY: "EXTRACT"] ANY MORE CONCRETE MEANINGS THAN THESE FEW FROM UKRAINE'S VERSION OF THE SPHINX AND PYRAMIDS, A GIANT STEEL-AND-CEMENT SARCOPHAGUS AT CHERNOBYL THAT HOLDS MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE TO BOTH TANTALIZE AND STRIKE FEAR INTO HUMANITY. ....... THE GENES OF BELARUS AND UKRAINE HAVE BEEN TATTOOED BY AN ATOMIC NEEDLE. AND THE WORLD IS STILL TRYING TO DIVINE THE MEANING." TEXT: ON THAT NOTE, WE CONCLUDE THIS BRIEF SAMPLING OF OPINIONS FROM THE U-S PRESS ON THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRE AT THE NUCLEAR ELECTRIC POWER GENERATING STATION IN CHERNOBYL, UKRAINE. NEB/ANG/NL 02-May-96 12:26 PM EDT (1626 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .