WIRE:03/11/2000 10:45:00 ET Minor malfunction shuts Ukrainian nuclear reactor KIEV, March 11 (Reuters) - Officials at Rivne nuclear power plant in western Ukraine shut down a reactor on Saturday after a minor malfunction was detected in its turbine equipment, a nuclear official said. A duty engineer for state nuclear power company Energoatom told Reuters that reactor number three had been stopped at 5:36 a.m. (0336 GMT), but no increase in radiation levels had been recorded. He said the reactor might be restarted on Sunday.

Almost 14 years after the world's worst civil nuclear accident at Chernobyl, Ukraine relies on nuclear power for up to 45 percent of its electricity.

Ukraine has promised to shut down Chernobyl's sole reactor still in operation by the middle of this year but is seeking funds from the West to complete construction of two replacement reactors -- including one at Rivne -- as compensation.

The Rivne plant relies on Soviet technology different from that used to build Chernobyl's four reactors.

The explosion and fire in Chernobyl's fourth reactor in April 1986 sent radiation over much of Europe and caused thousands of deaths.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20000311_465.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 11, 2000

Answers

Gee whiz, Ukraine not having a good day. See also:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl? msg_id=002ksC

-- Jen Bunker (jen@bunkergroup.com), March 11, 2000.