Perturbations in the station’s management along with the numerous half and direct accusations of its former manager have given rise to an avalanche of allegations in the capital. People began to get panicky about what was thought a repetition of the 1986 disaster, and the wave of trepidation’s even reached foreign embassies. The station’s ex-manager Serhiy Parashyn, now in official disgrace, received countless phone calls. Asked by The Day, he stated that he had met with the station’s chief engineer and there were no reasons for alarm, not yet. The Emergency Management Ministry also said not to worry, referring to information from Oleksandr Herebiuk, head of the danger area’s state administration. Ivan Marushchak, Head of the Chornobyl Disaster Problems Department, Ivankiv City Administration, was asked by The Day to take radiation readings May 14 and 27, showing between 18 and 20 microroentgens, meaning no increase above the usual level.
Chornobyl is unpredictable. This is the main theme of the analytical memorandum “On the Condition and Problems of the Ukrainian Nuclear Power Industry” prepared by a team of leading experts at the Ministry of Environmental Safety. The document was submitted to the first seminar under the same title, organized for the media by the Nuclear Regulation Administration.
There is no substantial improvement in safety arrangements in the Ukrainian nuclear domain. Those in charge of the industry actually showed no response to the disheartening findings of inspections carried out at the Chornobyl station by a team of experts from the International Association of Nuclear Power Station Operators. By way of comparison, a similar inspection revealing less serious shortcomings at a Canadian station caused the authorities to order its stoppage.
The nuclear stations’ legal framework is too vague and controversial. Comprehensive reassessments of safety regulations at currently operating nuclear power units were carried out practically in every country. In Ukraine this work is far from complete. The reason is usual: lack of funds. Also, the industry’s management has to be adjusted. The jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Power Industry, Enerhoatom Co., and the stations has to be delimited. The number of bureaucratic departments and office personnel exceeds similar foreign structures by four to six times. Recent years’ experiments in creating a national energy market have brought the industry to the verge of catastrophe, as in practice has the fact that the energy generated is stolen, and the industry has no other financial sources.
There is no technical development strategy. Ukraine had an opportunity to solve its fuel problem, but the government bungled it. For example, it was possible to set up an international concern to produce fuel for East European countries operating Soviet-developed reactors, but the possibility was practically ignored. Instead, ideas of cooperation with Russia, disadvantageous to Ukraine, or building own fuel manufacturing capacities, actually totally impractical, have been considered.
The overall impression is that Ukraine inherited from the USSR a machine which it cannot handle and cannot discard. Problems arising from the power industry could be solved only if this sector were accorded high priority, and if cooperation with the international community were secured.






