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Russian nuclear reactors safest bet for millennium - agency
03:44 a.m. Aug 21, 1998 Eastern
OSLO, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Russian nuclear power plants' lack of digital control systems could make them the safest at the turn of the century, Norwegian news agency NTB quoted the Norwegian daily Nordlys as saying on Friday.
``In western countries, many prepare to shut down the reactors when 1999 approaches the end,'' Nordlys said. ``The Russians still use analogue systems to monitor and operate the nuclear power plants and therefore would be spared from such problems.''
The Bellona environment foundation said Russian power plants were not seen replacing any reactor control systems in the near future, but had already received some parts of equipment from western producers.
``The most ironic thing is that the Russians at the turn of the century will face most problems with safety equipment delivered from western countries, because they are date-based systems,'' Thomas Nilsen, manager of Bellona's Russian affairs, told Nordlys.
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