FRENCH FIRM COULD BUILD SHIELD OVER MAIN CHORNOBYL REACTOR

7/30/07

FRENCH FIRM COULD BUILD SHIELD OVER MAIN CHORNOBYL REACTOR

Photo of resident of Chernobyl's exclusion zone by Lionel Delevingne.

XIII.) FRENCH FIRM COULD BUILD SHIELD OVER MAIN CHORNOBYL REACTOR:

RIA Novosti, July 25, 2007

Ukraine could sign a contract with a French firm in September to build a giant protective shield over a damaged reactor in Chornobyl, the scene of the world's worst nuclear disaster, the emergencies minister said Wednesday.

"The Assembly of Chornobyl Shelter Fund Donors made a decision in London July 17 to give its approval to the contract to build the shelter with the Novarka concern, with a preliminary cost of 490 million euros (about $680 million)," Nestor Shufrych said.

The decision came after numerous delays since the fund - which comprises 28 countries, including the G8 nations and is run by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development - pledged in 2005 to allocate about $200 million on a new vault to contain radioactive material still inside the plant's main, fourth, reactor since the powerful 1986 explosions.

The project is a tricky one, above all because of the radiation involved. A huge steel vault, which will be made away from the reactor site and will then be slid into place on rails, will seal the plant for 100 years, and further measures are expected to reduce the radiation threat or remove radioactive material from the plant.

Much of the radioactive material inside the plant is temporarily contained by a Russian-designed "sarcophagus."

The devastating disaster in then Soviet Ukraine killed and affected nine million people across the world, according to UN estimates.

Vast areas, above all in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, were contaminated by the fallout of the explosion. An 18-mile zone, from which about 135,000 people were evacuated after the disaster, remains largely deserted to this day.

and...

XII.) UKRAINE TO RECEIVE 700 MILLION EUR FROM EBRD FOR CONSTRUCTION OF SARCOPHAGUS IN CHORNOBYL:

National Radio Company of Ukraine, July 25, 2007

Ukraine will receive some 700 million EUR from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for realization of a project of sarcophagus construction at the Chornobyl NPP and for construction of a storage unit for processed nuclear fuel.

As Minister for Emergency Management and Protection of the Population from the Chornobyl Disaster Aftermath Nestor Shufrych told journalists Wednesday, it proceeds from agreements, which have been reached in London between Ukraine and the Assembly of Chornobyl Fund Donors and the Nuclear Safety Account Assembly. Out of the sum, 490 million EUR is needed for sarcophagus construction, 200 million EUR for storage of processed nuclear fuel of the first, second and third units of the ChNPP, 7 million for completing the construction of the plant for processing liquefied radioactive wastes and 4 million for other projects, the minister said.

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Ten Reasons To Say No To Nuclear Power

1. Climate change is underway. Renewable energy can be brought online faster, more cheaply and more safely than nuclear power. 2. Reactors are sitting-duck targets and are not even defended to the ferocity of the 9/11 attacks. 3. Nuclear power is not emissions-free. Reactors routinely release radioactivity and use fossil fuels at every step from uranium mining to waste storage. 4. Building more reactors in the U.S. sends the wrong message abroad. Commercial nuclear technology inevitably leads to nuclear weapons capability. 5. The Yucca Mountain high-level radioactive dump is unsound and even if opened could not accommodate all wastes if generation continues. 6. Evacuation plans are unrealistic. Hurricane Katrina taught us that a mass evacuation during a serious radiological release would be a chaotic catastrophe. 7. A typical 1000 megawatt nuclear reactor produces enough plutonium each year to make 40 atomic bombs, an unacceptable risk. 8. New and old reactors are most prone to break down. U.S. reactors are old. New ones increase the risk of accident. 9. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission—mandated to watchdog the nuclear industry – chooses to protect industry profit over public health and safety. 10. The most defenseless are at the greatest risk—children, the elderly, minorities, the poor and animals—at every phase of the nuclear fuel chain. Ten Brighter Ideas 1. If every U.S. household installed one compact fluorescent light bulb, the power savings would equal the power produced by one nuclear reactor. 1=1! 2. Twenty compact fluorescents in every U.S. home could displace at least 25% of U.S. nuclear reactors. 3. Updated lighting, appliances, heating, cooling and other electrical systems can save more energy than all 103 U.S. reactors produce annually. 4. Cost-effective energy efficiency measures for homes and businesses can save at least 20% of electricity use. 5. Turning off and unplugging electrical equipment not in use and line-drying clothes seem like small measures but can make a big difference. 6. Homeowners and renters alike can choose to buy green power instead of nuclear generated electricity. 7. Properly sealing and insulating your home can save 25%-40% of building heat loss. 8. Renewable energy sources can meet 25% of U.S. energy needs by 2025. 9. Shifting to locally-generated electricity avoids waste, reduces brownouts and blackouts, increases efficiency of service and creates jobs. 10. Every dollar spent on nuclear power instead of fossil fuels results in releasing six times more carbon than if the same dollar is spent on efficiency. www.nirs.org 301.270.6477

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7/30/07