Chernobyl remembered but Russia still backing nuclear

Published on Tuesday 26 April 2011 16:36

RUSSIA'S president argued yesterday that tough international guidelines could help prevent accidents such as the Chernobyl meltdown.

He was defending atomic energy during solemn ceremonies commemorating the 25th anniversary of the worst nuclear accident in history.

Dmitry Medvedev and Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych took part in a religious service outside Chernobyl's damaged No. 4 nuclear reactor, laying the first stone of a monument to the emergency workers who were first at the scene and laying red roses at another monument to Chernobyl victims.

Mr Medvedev said he has invited world leaders to work on rules for safer nuclear energy. His economic adviser, Arkady Dvorkovich, said Russia forwarded its proposals to leaders of other G8 countries yesterday, and he hoped they would be discussed at next month's summit in France.

"It's of utmost importance that we understand what kind of force humankind is dealing with so that our solutions ... meet the challenges of nuclear energy," Mr Medvedev said.

The accident on 26 April 1986 spewed a cloud of radioactive fallout over much of Europe and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes in heavily hit areas of Ukraine, Belarus and western Russia. It has left forests and farmland still contaminated.

The accident fostered deep mistrust among many in the affected areas, where Soviet leaders waited for days to inform people of the accident, to evacuate them from contaminated areas, and to warn them how to reduce health risks. Mr Medvedev called that a major mistake.

"The duty of the government is to tell its people the truth. We must admit that the government did not always behave in the right way," he said.

Mr Yanukovych stressed that nuclear accidents such as Chernobyl and the nuclear explosion at Fukushima affect the whole planet, renewing calls for money to build a new, safer shelter over the damaged reactor. Ukraine must still raise some 182 million to cover up the plant, which remains a no-go zone a quarter century after the disaster.

Despite the dangers, the three most affected former Soviet countries continue to believe in nuclear energy. Vladislav Bochkov, spokesman for the Russian nuclear energy agency, said 11 reactors are now under construction in Russia.Ukraine is building two and Belarus is building one reactor.

The Kremlin said Mr Medvedev is calling for stricter safety standards for building and operating nuclear power plants, increasing governments' responsibility when dealing with the consequences of possible nuclear accidents and obliging governments to provide full information.

The Chernobyl explosion released about 400 times more radiation than the atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima. The World Health Organisation said at a conference in Kiev last week that among the 600,000 people most heavily exposed to the radiation, 4,000 more cancer deaths than average are expected to be eventually found.

Artur Tverdokhlebov, 80, a retired subway worker, joined some 3,000 Chernobyl victims at a memorial service at a monument in Kiev.

"Chernobyl is an open wound in the soul of our people," said Mr Tverdokhlebov, who was rushed in to clean up in the aftermath of Chernobyl.