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April 26, 2005. Briefing for press dedicated to 19th anniversary of Chernobyl catastrophe held in Turkmen capital

Yesterday, the Embassy of Ukraine in Ashgabat held a briefing for press dedicated to the 19th anniversary of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Heads of the diplomatic corps and international organizations accredited to the Turkmen capital as well as representatives of mass media attended the briefing, the Ashgabat correspondent of Turkmenistan.ru reports. The consequences of one of the greatest techno-gene catastrophes in the history of humanity that took place on April 26, 1986, are still of serious concern to the world community. The fact that starting last year this mournful date is marked as International Day of Remembrance of victims of radiation accidents and catastrophes, which was initiated by Ukraine and U.N., is proof of the tragedy’s scale. Thousands of people took part in liquidation of this tragedy. Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkmenistan Viktor Maiko briefed the audience on the work conducted in recent years to liquidate the catastrophe consequences. In particular, the diplomat focused on a new project of construction of a new protection facility – a 25,000-tonne arch made of metal that would make the construction hermetic and lessen to the maximum extent outflow of radiation from and penetration of rainfalls to the fourth energy block which stands shut. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and donor-states will support the implementation of this 3-year project which is due to start in the beginning of 2006. Heads of Belarus’s and Russian diplomatic missions also reported on measures being carried out by their states, which are very close to the heart of the disaster, to liquidate the catastrophe consequences. Ambassador of Belarus to Turkmenistan Yuri Malumov talked about Belarus’s initiative to hold a topical international seminar in Minsk in one year, on the eve of the 20th anniversary since the tragedy. According to the charge d’affairs of the Russian Federation, Andrey Krutko, “history taught us a serious lesson, but we still don’t have an alternative to the nuclear energy. We simply have to make it absolutely safe.”

Type:	Press-Conference
Organizers:	Government
Participants:	Government(s), Mass-Media, NGOs, Academia
Theme:	Other
Countries:	Turkmenistan, Ukraine
Locations:	Turkmenistan
Open press:	No

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