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Ukrainian President Kuchma Appeals to Europe for more Help
to Continue the Recovery After Chernobyl
BBC NEWS, World Edition, UK
Thursday, May 22, 2003
In response to a Parliamentary question by Blaenau Gwent MP Llew Smith,
Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said this week that 180,000 sheep in Wales
remained affected by radioactive fall-out and were under restricted
movement.
A total of 359 - 100 more than 1998 - holdings fall within the current
monitored areas, mainly mountain grazings.
The news coincides with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma - currently
hosting pan-European talks - appealing for help to continue the recovery
after Chernobyl.
As the three-day talks continue, back in Westminster Llew Smith stressed the
need to reconsider any idea of building more nuclear plants in the UK.
"The very fact that 17 years after the accident in the Ukraine, radioactive
contamination can still contaminate farms some 2,000 miles away,
demonstrates the deadly dangers of nuclear power," he said.
Back in March, the BBC revealed that almost 400 sheep farms in England,
Wales and Scotland remained affected.
Among them is 47-year-old Snowdonia sheep farmer Glyn Roberts.
Breeding stock on a farm in Padog, near Betws y Coed, he must still abide by
government-imposed restrictions on the movement and sale of sheep whose meat
contains more than permitted levels of radioactivity.
"The process of marking and scanning the sheep for signs of the lingering
radioactivity is a lot of hassle for everyone involved," he said.
"Financial losses continue to blight us in real terms too."
But he says he is glad the safety measures are still in place, not only for
his piece of mind but to demonstrate to the public that they are protected
from contamination.
"These stringent rules certainly raise consumer confidence in Welsh farming
produce.
"We're therefore happy to monitor our stock. Keeping ramifications of the
Chernobyl disaster in the spotlight on a European scale is important to the
future of our community."
Steps being taken to highlight possible dangers and prospects of future
environmental development, will be among debate at the Environmental
Security for Durable Development in Ukraine.
Among delegates are 50 environment ministers from Europe, North America
and former Soviet republics, as well as non-governmental organisations like
the World Bank.
Crucially, participants are set to sign a protocol obliging businesses to
inform the public of their toxic emissions, and will decide on a common
environmental strategy and compensations practice in the case of accidents.
But President Kuchma is also due to discuss how to secure funding to
complete the controversial construction of two new nuclear reactors when he
meets the World Bank officials.
And environmental groups are opposed to his plans, warning of a disaster
worse than the explosion in 1986.
BBC NEWS, World Edition, May 22, 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/3049759.stm
Quote: Keeping ramifications of the Chernobyl disaster in the spotlight on a
European scale is important to the future of our community. (in side block)
Snowdonia farmer Glyn Roberts
Photo: Chernobyl: More than 400 British farms remain affected
Photo: Farmer Glyn Roberts is eager to restore consumer confidence
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