A project to eliminate any Y2K bugs from 14 aging, problem-prone nuclear reactors in the Ukraine has just gotten underway, financed by Western governments. The experts working on the project say they are simply making sure the plants don’t shut down on New Year’s Eve, and they claim confidence that there are no safety problems that might lead to a nuclear disaster. But the specter of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear explosion still looms over the region. Ukraine has a record of ignoring its own nuclear safety regulations and overriding safety systems in order to keep electricity flowing.
