The third operating unit of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant was shut
down last Wednesday for routine maintenance after a gradual reduction of
power output.
This year, maintenance is to be carried out within 132 days and be completed
before the cold comes in the fall. This is a very strenuous task, taking
into account inadequate funding and logistical support of not only of the
repairs but also the whole station infrastructure. Hence the station's
managers and leading experts have already dubbed the current maintenance
as the most crucial in this station's history.
The station's respective repair services and contractors from the Pivdenteploenerhomontazh
(Southern Thermal Assembly) Enterprise are to inspect of the basic equipment,
replace about one hundred special-purpose ducts where nuclear fuel is spent,
and repair some pipelines in the reactor apparatus.
"By and large," general manager of the nuclear power station Vitaly
Tolstonohov told The Day, "annual routine maintenance is not an
extraordinary event for us or for any other nuclear power plant. And we
are going to exert every effort to prove that the station has the right
to be fully functioning. I hope the third unit will continue working as
long as we technically ensure its reliable and trouble-free operation,"
Volodymyr KOSTENKO reports.
