Twenty four years after a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the nightmare is far from over. As another anniversary ticks by, attention for a moment turned to the former power plant and the threat it still poses. In particular, the huge concrete sarcophagus that entombed the destroyed the reactor. The concrete was plastered together pell mell after the accident and the work was roughshod. Not surprisingly, the concrete tomb hasn't held up well, and needs to be replaced, or else it could all come crumbling down, unleashing radiation still trapped inside.
Once not long ago, the leaders of Belarus and Russia fawned over each other and talked glowingly of their coming fusion in one union, with even one currency. Those days are fading now as relations fray and the EU and Washington nudge into the picture, trying to pry away away one of Moscow's last true allies. The latest sign of souring relations is the failure of Moscow and Minsk to agree on oil deliveries for 2010.
Believe it or not, the type of reactor once found in the nuclear house of horrors, Chernobyl, is still churning out power in Europe. But the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithunia, which provides 70 percent of the power of that small Baltic state, is living on borrowed time. Under an agreement with the EU, Lithuania will pull the switch on Ignalina on New Year's eve. While Europe will be rid of one more dangerous nuclear site, Lithuania is stuck with a problem. Where to get the power Ignalina provided in bunches.
