U.S. Voices Concern Over 2 Soviet-Made Reactors in Cuba
VIENNA, Austria — The United States is concerned about the construction of two Soviet-made nuclear power reactors in Cuba, Energy Secretary John Herrington said today.
Herrington, speaking at a news conference, said that the Cubans are building two “small but powerful” 400-megawatt reactors but that the United States does not have any specifics and is concerned about the safety issue.
“We don’t know what the radioactive containment is. We need to know more,” he said.
A senior American official who briefed reporters later said the Soviets confirmed the existence of the reactors to U.S. officials at a bilateral meeting in August. Their presence had been detected by U.S. Landsat satellites.
The official said the reactors are different from the Chernobyl reactor in the Ukraine, where a series of operator errors caused an explosion April 26 that led to 31 deaths and sent radiation spewing through the countryside and much of Europe.
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