FOURTEEN years after the world’s worst nuclear reactor accident, Chernobyl’s
last working reactor finally closed down last year. But its intended
replacements are already causing international consternation. In December 2000,
the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved a
£147 million loan for two new reactors. However, the Austrians complained
that Ukraine is subject to earthquakes, which the chosen replacement reactors
were not designed to withstand (New Scientist, 16 December, p 7). I
asked Scottish Secretary Helen Liddell, when she was still minister for energy
in Europe, what her expert advisers were saying about the matter.
Liddell replied…
