Ukraine

Russia’s Atomstroiexport to build Khmelnytsky reactors three and four

Thursday, October 9, 2008

KIEV, Oct. 7 – The general contractor to build reactors three and four at the Khmelnytsky nuclear power plant will be Russia's ZAO Atomstroiexport, a source in the Fuel and Energy Ministry told Interfax-Ukraine.

"The interagency tender commission on the selection of the type of generating units for reactors three and four at the Khmelnytsky NPP has finished its work. After studying proposals from Atomstroiexport, South Koera's ÊÅÐÑÎ and U.S. company Westinghouse, the commission said that the Russian project was the best," the source said.

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Chernobyl Fallout? Plutonium Found In Swedish Soil

Thursday, October 2, 2008

ScienceDaily (Oct. 1, 2008) — When a reactor in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in 1986 in what was then the Soviet republic of Ukraine, radioactive elements were released in the air and dispersed over the Soviet Union, Europe and even eastern portions of North America.

More than 20 years later, researchers from Case Western Reserve University traveled to Sweden and Poland to gain insight into the downward migration of Chernobyl-derived radionuclides in the soil. Among the team's findings was the fact that much more plutonium was found in the Swedish soil at a depth that corresponded with the nuclear explosion than that of Poland.

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Russia to contribute $17 mln to Chernobyl cleanup

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

VIENNA, September 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will provide $17 million to help improve safety at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the site of the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster, and fully decommission it, a top Russian nuclear official said on Monday.

Three reactors of the Chernobyl plant continued to operate for several years after reactor number four exploded in 1986, the last reactor shutting down in 2000. The reactors still contain nuclear fuel rods, and require constant monitoring. The fourth reactor is housed in a Soviet-era sarcophagus set to be replaced by a $1.4 bln metal structure.

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Ukraine to put $90 mln into nuclear fuel reserve - Energoatom

Monday, September 29, 2008

KIEV, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's government has proposed allocating 450 million hryvnias ($90 million) in next year's budget to set up a strategic nuclear fuel reserve, the country's UNIAN new agency said.

"I think we will start gradually forming a fuel reserve next year," Yuri Nedashkovsky, head of state nuclear power utility Energoatom, was quoted as saying on Thursday.

He said the allocation had been included in the draft budget for 2009.

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Reactor at West Ukrainian Nuclear Plant Reconnected to Grid

Friday, September 26, 2008

Kiev, 26 September: Power generating unit No 2 at the Khmelnytskyy nuclear power plant was reconnected to the power grid at 2051 local time [1751 gmt] on 25 September after emergency repairs, the plant's press service told UNIAN.

The unit is working at 780 MW capacity today.

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Study Shows Significant Impact of Chernobyl Nuclear Accident on Bone Development in Russian Women

Friday, September 19, 2008

This study of bone density compares BMD development in 2854 women affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident with two non-contaminated control groups using the DXL Calscan portable bone densitometer device. By Prof. S.S. Rodionova, CITO (Moscow).

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Chernobyl nuclear disaster shocks the world

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Twenty-two years ago, the most serious accident in nuclear history disrupted the lives of millions of people. Massive amounts of radioactive materials were released into the environment resulting in a radioactive cloud that spread over much of Europe. The greatest contamination occurred around the Chernobyl nuclear power station in areas that are now part of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. People in Czechoslovakia were not in acute danger, but like others in the communist block they learnt about the nuclear accident many days after it happened and the media censorship ordered by the communist regime prevented them from taking even the most basic precautions.

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Poland needs 1,500-2,000 MW a year of new power

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

WARSAW, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Poland needs to build between 1,500 and 2,000 megawatts a year of new power capacity to keep up with growing demand, an adviser to the economy minister said on Wednesday.
The country, which needs to increase capacity quickly to make up for years of abandoning investments and plant renovations, would be interested in building natural-gas fired plants, Joanna Strzelec-Lobodzinska said.
"The estimates show Poland needs to create between 1,500 and 2,000 MW in new capacities to keep up with growing demand and replace outdated technologies," Lobodzinska told reporters.

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Russia, Ukraine continuing nuclear talks

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

RBC, 27.08.2008, Moscow 09:59:36.A meeting of the Russian-Ukrainian sub-commission on atomic energy and nuclear materials, which started on Tuesday, will continue today. It is expected that, among other things, the commission will discuss the signing of a long-term contract for the supplies of Russia's nuclear fuel for Ukrainian nuclear power plants after 2010. The Russian corporation TVEL is proposing to ink an agreement until 2025, but Ukraine has not yet decided on a term for which it would like to order the fuel. Ukraine's proposed participation in the international uranium enrichment center in Angarsk in southeastern Siberia could also be brought up.

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The time bomb

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Since the end of the cold war, the United Nations has logged more than 800 incidents in which radioactive material has gone missing, often from poorly guarded sites. Who is taking it - and should we be worried? Julian Borger investigates.

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