- Title: UKRAINE: WORKERS AT CHERNOBYL UNHAPPY AS NUCLEAR PLANT CLOSES DOWN.
- Date: 15th December 2000
- Summary: CHERNBOYL, UKRAINE (DECEMBER 15) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS: EXTERIOR OF PLANT INCLUDING VIEWS OF MONUMENT ERECTED TO PAY TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO DIED IN THE 1986 NUCLEAR ACCIDENT (8 SHOTS) 0.44 2. VARIOUS: WORKERS GATHERED LISTENING TO PRESIDENT KUCHMA'S ADDRESS VIA A TELEVISION LINK/ CLOCK/ TEARFUL WORKERS WATCHING CLOSING CEREMONY IN SADNESS
- Embargoed: 30th December 2000 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: CHERNOBYL, UKRAINE
- City:
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics:
- Reuters ID: LVA3AUDAUMUUO1GMSZ20IN1A0HIZ
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Workers at the Chernobyl nuclear power station have
said they are sad and upset following the official closure of
the plant which caused the world's worst nuclear accident.
The workers, who watched President Leonid Kuchma give
the order to close the plant via a giant television link on
Friday (December 15), later wiped tears from their eyes.
One worker said that he felt he had been betrayed twice --
once in 1986 when the accident occurred, and now again today
when the plant was closed. The 6,000 workers expect that they
will all eventually lose their much-needed jobs with the
closure.
Ukraine has pledged not to use Chernobyl for electricity
generation again. Officials say it will take until 2008 before
the last fuel rods are removed from the plant, which is 125 km
(70 miles) north of Kiev in a poisoned no-go zone.
Thousands are thought to have died since as a result of
radiation which spewed from the reactor's burning shell. One
in 16 Ukrainians, and millions of Russians and Belarussians
suffer health disorders attributable to the disaster,
including thyroid cancer and respiratory problems, according
to Ukrainian authorities.
(dw/rl)
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