Ukraine restarted the last working nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power plant on Friday after almost five months of repairs, ignoring strong international pressure to shut it down. Ukrainian officials had previously agreed to close the reactor by the end of this year, but they have now pushed the date forward to sometime next year, blaming industrialized nations for failing to come up with $1.2 billion to complete two new replacement reactors. Officials at Chernobyl insist the plant is safe and free of any potential Y2K bugs, but Western governments and enviros are worried. Ukraine continues to operate 14 reactors at five nuclear power plants, supplying about 40 percent of the nation’s energy.
