RUSSIA READY TO FILL UKRAINE’S NUCLEAR ENERGY GAP.

During his July 15-18 visit to Ukraine (see the Monitor, July 20), Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin offered Russia’s cooperation in completing the two unfinished power blocks at the Rivne and Khmelnitskaya nuclear power plants in Ukraine. He stated that it is in the interest of Russia’s nuclear industry to undertake the construction work and to fill Ukraine’s orders for equipment and for nuclear fuel. Stepashin did not appear to make this assistance conditional on the closure of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant (UNIAN, July 16). The Group of Seven and the European Union committed themselves in 1995 to fund the completion of those power blocks, in compensation for the intended closure of Chornobyl by 2000. The G-7 and the EU, however, have failed to deliver on their part of that agreement. This situation has forced Ukraine to postpone the closure of Chornobyl and to entertain Russia’s offer to complete Rivne and Khmelnitskaya.

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