Chernobyl Nuclear Fuel Rod Damaged

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- A nuclear fuel rod was damaged during repairs at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant today, but the incident caused no radiation leaks, a plant spokesman said.

It was the second problem reported at reactor No. 3 since it was shut for repairs July 1.

Workers were putting the rod back in place today when they accidentally bent a metal pipe that is attached to the rod and used to insert it into a proper channel in the reactor, said the spokesman, Oleh Holoskokov.

He said a worker who operated a special machine for inserting the fuel rod started to withdraw the machine when the rod was still joined to it and bent the pipe.

The incident did not affect the section of the rod containing nuclear fuel and didn't lead to any radiation leaks, Holoskokov told The Associated Press.

He said the incident corresponded to Level 1 on the 7-level International Nuclear Event Scale, which is used to assess the seriousness of events at nuclear plants worldwide. The International Atomic Energy Agency describes Level 1 incidents as ``functional or operational anomalies which do not pose a risk but which indicate a lack of safety provisions.''

Last week, repair workers damaged one of the reactor's safety rods used to regulate the intensity of nuclear reaction inside the reactor.

Holoskokov said Chernobyl officials were ordered to stop working with fuel rods until an investigation into Thursday's accident is completed.

Reactor No. 3 remains the only operational reactor at Chernobyl after the 1986 explosion in reactor No. 4, the world's worst nuclear accident. Reactor No. 3 is expected to stay idle until November.

Ukraine has promised to shut Chernobyl by 2000, but wants to secure international aid first to complete two other nuclear reactors to compensate for the energy loss the closure would cause.

AP-NY-07-15-99 1326EDT

-- flb (fben4077@yahoo.com), July 15, 1999

Answers

For the 'grammar police' that would be correctly " See Your Japan, etc." Geeeze, I HATE when that happens!

-- flb (fben4077@yahoo.com), July 15, 1999.

flb........You are a card today, aren't you........

-- Craig (craig@ccinet.ab.ca), July 15, 1999.

me = my.....unless you're PopEye.

Hey....I'm a poet and don't know it.

-- Charles R. (chuck_roast@trans.net), July 15, 1999.