AMBASSADOR PASCUAL TO DEDICATE HEAT PLANT AT CHORNOBYL

U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Carlos Pascual will take part in a dedication ceremony June 29 of a replacement heat plant at Chornobyl. The new $40 million facility is vital to the decommissioning and permanent shutdown of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

Also taking part in the ceremony will be the General Director of the ChNPP, Vitaliy Tolstanogov, senior Ukrainian government officials, and representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

The replacement heat plant facility was built through the joint efforts of the United States and Ukraine. The United States provided $32.5 million of the total cost. Ukraine's share of the cost was $7.5 million.

Construction of the facility began in September 1998 and was completed earlier this month. The plant consists of three hot water boilers of 57 megawatt (MWt) each, and three steam boilers of 40 MWt each. The plant will be primarily fueled by natural gas, which will be supplied by an 18-kilometer pipeline from the town of Chornobyl.

On-site project management and staff were provided by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Major Ukrainian participants in the design, construction and start up of the plant include Ukraine's Ministry of Fuel and Energy, Energoatom, the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the Ukrenergoprom Design Institute, and three local building contractors.