WIRE: 04/28/2001 2:01 pm ET

Nuclear reactor shut down in Ukraine

The Associated Press

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) A nuclear reactor at a Ukrainian power plant was shut down following a hydrogen leak Saturday, officials said. Reactor No. 3 at the Soviet-designed Yuzhnaya plant was stopped early in the day, the state Energoatom nuclear company said. It gave no further details but reported no increased radiation levels.

The incident came two days after ceremonies in Ukraine marking the 15th anniversary of the reactor explosion and fire at Chernobyl, the world's worst nuclear accident. The last working reactor at the ill-fated plant was closed in December 2000.

That left Ukraine with four nuclear power plants and 13 operating reactors, which are frequently shut down over malfunctions or for repairs but still provide about 40 percent of the former Soviet republic's electricity.

Ukraine had hoped for an influx of Western money to finish building two new reactors, which it sees as compensation for Chernobyl's lost power. But with the aid largely delayed, officials including President Leonid Kuchma say the country may have no choice but to complete construction by itself. http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20010428_807.html

-- Carl Jenkins (somewherepress@aol.com), April 29, 2001