Nov 27, 2000 - 05:52 AM

Chernobyl Plant Shut Down After Power Line Break The Associated Press

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant was shut down early Monday after an ice-covered power line broke and caused a sharp drop of electricity, officials said. Reactor No. 3, the plant's only working reactor, was closed down by its automatic safety system and workers plan to restart it on Saturday, a plant spokesman said.

There were no malfunctions in the reactor and no radiation leaks were reported.

Ukraine has said it will permanently close the nuclear power plant - site of the world's worst nuclear disaster - on Dec. 15. Ukraine promised to shut Chernobyl down after years of pressure from European governments and environmentalists.

The plant's reactor No. 4 exploded and caught fire on April 26, 1986, sending a radioactive cloud over much of Europe in a disaster believed to have eventually killed thousands of people.

Chernobyl's No. 2 reactor was shut down after a fire in 1991, and reactor No. 1 was halted in 1996.

The remaining reactor has been the focus of disputes between international groups concerned over safety and energy-strapped Ukraine, which fears losing the electricity the reactor provides.

It has been shut down frequently by automatic safety systems over the past year due to various malfunctions.

Also on Monday, the No. 2 reactor at Ukraine's Yuzhna power plant was shut down due to a malfunction, the State Energoatom nuclear company said in a statement.

Currently, nine of 14 nuclear reactors are working at Ukraine's five atomic power plants, producing about 40 percent of country's electricity. http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA4TFQ12GC.html

-- Carl Jenkins (somewherepress@aol.com), November 27, 2000

Answers

CBC

Mon Nov 27, 7:17 am

Chernobyl Reactor Shut Down, Possibly Forever

Power line failures forced the shutdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power station Monday, and a top atomic energy official said there may be no point in turning it back on less than three weeks before its final closure. A cold snap brought havoc to Ukraine's creaking national power grid, leaving millions without electricity.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), November 27, 2000.

Anyone know if wood stoves have been legislated out of use in the Ukraine yet? (I'm hoping not!) - Jesse.

-- Jesse (wearyhobo@icqmail.com), November 27, 2000.