Thursday July 25 5:43 PM EDT 

One Dead in at Ukraine Nuclear Plant Accident



KIEV, Ukraine (Reuter) - Two accidents in three hours hit one of
Ukraine's five nuclear power stations, killing a man, causing
contamination and sparking new worries about safety 10 years after the
Chernobyl disaster.

Viktor Stovbun, a senior official at Ukraine's nuclear power authority
Derzhkomatom, said a worker died of burns and other injuries when a
pipe carrying steam broke and struck him on Wednesday at the
Khmelnitsky station in western Ukraine.

In a second incident, a staff error caused radioactive water to leak
into and contaminate a nitrogen storage area.

``During a water pressure test, a steam pipe ruptured near one of the
employees and it struck him on the head. He was badly burned and later
died,'' Stovbun said by telephone Thursday.

``In the second incident, staff failed to check a seal. Water entered
another pipe carrying nitrogen and then fell into a nitrogen storage
area.''

Stovbun said the second incident rated one on the zero to seven
international scale of nuclear ``events.''

The 60 square foot contaminated area had been cleaned up and there had
been no release of radiation outside the plant, 180 miles west of
Kiev.

Any nuclear incident is a highly sensitive matter in Ukraine 10 years
after the explosion and fire at Chernobyl, held responsible for at
least 4,300 deaths. Ukraine has pledged to close Chernobyl's two
working reactors by the year 2000.

The two incidents in Khmelnitsky's sole reactor, closed for
maintenance for the past three months, once again raised the issue of
whether the former Soviet republic was operating its network of 15
reactors safely.

``The reactor has been stopped for maintenance since April 20 and was
supposed to be brought back on stream in the next few days,'' Nelya
Senchuk, an engineer, said by telephone from the station. ``But after
these incidents, it cannot be ruled out that Derzhkomatom will delay
reconnecting it.''

The directors of all five nuclear stations were attending a meeting in
Kiev Thursday and senior Derzhkomatom officials were unavailable for
comment.

A series of incidents have plagued their operations in recent months.

A small amount of radiation leaked at Chernobyl this month and a
similar incident occurred in April on the eve of the 10th anniversary
of the disaster.

Environment Minister Yuri Kostenko said safety standards had fallen
and said part of the blame lay with the Group of Seven (G7) nations
for failing to clarify how they would help Ukraine complete the
shutdown of Chernobyl.

Under an agreement reached with G7 last year, Ukraine is to receive
more than $3 billion in grants and credits to close the plant, but
government ministers say the money is not being released quickly
enough to get started.

Nuclear power already accounts for up to 40 percent of electricity
generated in Ukraine and plans call for the industry to be developed.

Two reactors, 80 percent complete, are to be built at the Khmelnitsky
and Rivne stations within two years to compensate for those to be
decommissioned at Chernobyl. Ministers say $840 million alone is
needed to complete these new reactors.

Ukraine's small environmental lobby said the latest incidents proved
the country needed alternative energy sources.

``The new reactors to be built are no different from those in
service,'' said Kostyantyn Buzadzhi of Greenpeace Ukraine. ``It is
irresponsible to develop Ukraine's nuclear industry.''