G7 Seeks Ukraine Clarity on Chernobyl "Sarcophagus"
Date: 11-May-05
Country: UKRAINE
Author: Ron Popeski
G8 industrial countries, together with the European Union have long proposed building a new "sarcophagus" to guard against leaks of radioactivity at the plant, scene of the world's worst civil nuclear accident.
Donor countries meet this week in London to raise funds to replace the concrete and steel structure hurriedly erected after the April 1986 Chernobyl disaster, which contaminated vast tracts of land and sent clouds of radioactivity across Europe.
The plant was entirely closed in 2000.
British ambassador Robert Brinkley, representing G8 countries, told Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko that Western countries wanted close cooperation with Kiev in ensuring the mothballed site remained safe.
"We are now close to raising the full sum of money required to build the Chernobyl shelter. We hope that this will be achieved at the pledging conference in London on May 12," Brinkley said at the meeting, requested by diplomats.
"We would very much welcome clarification from you ahead of that meeting in London of Ukraine's intentions. Is your government going to contribute to the Chernobyl shelter fund?"
Liberal President Viktor Yushchenko, catapulted to power after street protests last year against election fraud, last month called on the government to speed up the shelter project.
He said plans should be completed and construction started by next year's 20th anniversary of the disaster in what was then the Soviet Union.
But Brinkley said G8 was concerned the plan might be thrown off course by the government's transfer of responsibility for Chernobyl from the Energy Ministry to its Emergencies Ministry.
"We hope to receive, prime minister, your reassurance that this changeover of responsibilities will be conducted without any negative impact on the shelter project," he said.
"It is important for us to know who are our partners on the Ukrainian side in this project -- within the government and at expert level."
Diplomats say delays have prompted a reassessment of costs, with the original budget of $716 now standing at about $1.1 billion ahead of Thursday's conference, overseen by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Thousands of people are believed to have died from the effects of radiation since the accident and research continues into the long-term health effects, particularly the incidence of thyroid cancer.
