The Ukraine government has appealed to Russia to help the country complete two new nuclear reactors which the Ukraine requires in order to be able to close down the Chernobyl power plant without loss of generating capacity.
According to Dow Jones, Ukraine has asked Russia to allocate funds for the project in its 1999 state budget. Ukraine wants to complete the two reactors in 1999.
Under an agreement between the two countries, Russia will provide equipment and fuel for the two units at the Rovno and Khmelnitsky plants. Power from the units will be used to replace that from the single unit still operating at Chernobyl, due to close in 2000. The two reactors are 85 per cent complete.