Tuesday September 24 5:27 PM EDT

Ukraine Reviews How To Make Chernobyl Safer

KIEV, Ukraine (Reuter) - 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 percent 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.