Weather forces Ukrainian nuclear shutdown

The plight of Ukranian nuclear power supplies have been highlighted by latest closures

KIEV, Ukraine (Reuters) -- Power lines downed by bad weather forced a further two Ukrainian nuclear power reactors to automatically shut down on Tuesday, leaving only six of the country's 14 generating units in operation, officials said.

Ukraine relies on nuclear energy for 50 percent of its electricity but a cold snap snuffed out power lines across the country on Monday, forcing the closure of Chernobyl power station, site of the world's worst civil nuclear disaster, and other reactors.

"All shutdowns were linked to weather conditions," said Olexander Maistrenko, spokesman for the atomic energy agency Enerhoatom.

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He said there was no increase in radiation levels at any affected station.

Nuclear reactors cannot quickly adjust to changes in demand from the national grid and are designed to shut themselves down if there is nowhere for them to feed electricity.

Maistrenko said reactor one of three at the South Ukraine nuclear power plant shut down at 7:41 a.m. (0541 GMT) followed at 7:52 a.m. (0752 GMT) by number three.

The station is now completely shut down after its number two reactor was put out of action on Monday by a leak from a steam generator.

Late on Monday, number six reactor at the southern Zaporizhka nuclear power station switched off because of bad weather, Maistrenko said. Of the station's six reactors, two were already out of action for repairs, he said.

Driving rain, snow, ice and heavy winds have swept across Ukraine since the weekend.

According to the Emergencies Ministry, power was severed to half of all homes in two western regions and areas across the country were suffering blackouts. A spokeswoman said they expected further cuts as weather deteriorated.

The shutdown of the last functioning reactor at Chernobyl on Monday, three weeks before it was due to be taken out of service forever, served as a reminder of the decrepit state of Ukraine's infrastructure.

Chernobyl's number four reactor exploded in April 1986, immediately killing at least 30 people, and sending a radioactive cloud over Europe. Thousands are thought to have died since from the exposure to radiation.

But Ukraine, saddled by gas debts of at least $1.4 billion to Russia, says it can ill afford to forego nuclear power.

Western donors, to the chagrin of environmentalists, have pledged cash to build replacement reactors elsewhere once Chernobyl is permanently taken out of service on December 15.

Chernobyl's last functioning reactor provides the country with around five percent of its power, and following its shutdown on Monday the plant's chief engineer, Yuri Neretin, said stations like his were crucial.

"We're a big loss for Ukraine," he said. "You end up with a problem of stable electricity for the whole country."

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Chernobyl shut-down date issued
September 15, 2000

Uranium Institute: Chernobyl
Nuclear Energy Agency: Chernobyl

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