European Bank Reconstruction Development: The other reactor, unit one at the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Station, remains in operation, though all indications suggest that it should be retired, according to The Moscow Times. The prolonged operation of the country aging nuclear power plants probably would not have been possible without financial support from European taxpayers, delivered through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Atomic Energy Community as part of a 600 million euro "safety upgrade" program. One of them, unit four at Chernobyl, experienced an explosion and fire three years later that released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere — a catastrophic accident whose effects are still being felt far beyond Ukraine borders. Thanks to these efforts, the South Ukraine plant was granted a ten-year lifetime extension permit in 2013 by the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate . But, according to a comprehensive study released last month by the National Ecological Center of Ukraine , the assessment on which this decision was based was deeply flawed. Such vulnerabilities, the study warns, could result in a nuclear emergency, including a release of radioactive particles inside the unit — or even into the environment. In fact, the unit one reactor suffers dangerous vulnerabilities, with observed wear in some areas already exceeding tolerable levels by a factor of ten.
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Tagged under European Bank Reconstruction Development, European Atomic Energy Community topics.