Ukraine Takes Step to Close Chernobyl

The government on Wednesday ordered that a plan be prepared for closing the Chernobyl nuclear plant by the end of the year, as the West has long demanded, but said final approval still must come from the president.

The government decision followed earlier pledges by President Leonid D. Kuchma to shut down the plant, site of the world’s worst nuclear accident.

Kuchma promised U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson last month that the plant would be shut down this year.

But Kuchma did not give a definite closing date and reiterated that Chernobyl would close only after American, Ukrainian and other international experts work out an aid deal to help compensate Ukraine for the energy the plant provides.

The Cabinet ordered the Fuel and Energy Ministry to work out within three months a general plan for closing Chernobyl. After that, a more detailed program taking into account social protection for Chernobyl’s workers must be devised within six months.

Necessary spending must be included in the 2001 budget, the government decision said.

Chernobyl’s reactor No. 4 exploded and caught fire during a test in 1986, covering much of Europe with a radioactive cloud. The Ukrainian government has blamed at least 8,000 deaths on the disaster.