UKRAINE/ BELARUS: Chernobyl Refit Pledges Fall Short Of $1Bn Goal.

ALJAZEERA/

    Twenty-five years after the world's worst nuclear accident that officially killed 31 and affected untold thousands, an international conference in Kiev raised $788m usd to help build a containment shell at Chernobyl - short of the $1bn usd target.
   The protective structure is crumbling and fears are growing that radiation from more than 200 tons of nuclear material could escape into the atmosphere.
    An observer says:"... many of the 30 or so countries that were present at the donor conference said that now is just not the time to part with large sums of money because of the global financial situation ... more meetings will need to follow before the entire sum has been raised."

TO SEE euronews/english 1:14 VIDEO REPORT with :30 advert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU48sHOk87M&feature=player_embedded#at=27

UKRAINE: Japan's Nuke Tragedy Rekindles Painful Chernobyl Memories.

WSJ / J. Marson

    Today, some scientists claim that as many as one million people have died of the effects from the world's worst nuclear accident at Chernobyl.
    How many will eventually die from Japan's ongoing Fukushima disaster? 

WSJ:  "The threat of meltdown at the Japanese plant—already ranked the second-worst nuclear accident in history by the French nuclear-safety authority—comes as Ukraine is still dealing with the impact of the Chernobyl blast as it approaches the 25th anniversary."
   But "... the problems at Fukushima are unlikely to reach the scale of the Soviet disaster, which ... released 30 tons of nuclear fuel, causing radiation 10,000 times as high as what has been recorded so far around the Japanese plant."
   "The worst legacy for Ukrainians has been psychological. The U.N. study said the people from affected areas were gripped by a "paralyzing fatalism," in part because of a lack of information about the effects of radiation."

UKRAINE: In January, Chernobyl Opens For Tourists.

GUARDIAN/
      For the first time since the disasterous explosion of Chernobyl's nuclear reactor
#4 on April 26, 1986, the deserted complex will reopen for tourists.
    Only groups with official approval with be allowed.
      It will cost between $200 and 400 usd.
     65 people died directly from the accident, but at least 4,000 were affected by radioactivity and perhaps as many 500,000 will suffer from the radioactive cloud that blew over Europe and radioactivity that may linger at least until 2065.
     Hopefully, protective clothing will be provided.

UKRAINE: How Dangerous Are The Wildfires Burning Near Chernobyl?

NPR/ Dan Charles / Audio Report: 4:11 /
      There are wildfires burning in the forests near Chernobyl. Will they send radioactive smoke downwind? What are the risks to the 3 million people in Kiev just 60 miles away? Charles reports that there are risks...but not as big as some people believe.

FOR MORE DETAILS, SEE ALSO:    http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67B1YK20100813

LITHUANIA: Needs Russia's Energy With Nuclear Power Ended.

GLOBAL POST/
After 26 years, Lithuania's Ignalina nuclear power plant located near the Estonian border was shutdown. Its closure was a condition for joining the EU in 2004 because Ignalina's RBMK design was similar to the reactor that blew up at the Chernobyl facility in Ukraine in 1986 -- even though Ignalina produced between 70 and 80 percent of the nation's energy. Now Russia  will control the Lithuania's energy future.