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Some Western experts thought the report downplayed the shortcomings of Soviet equipment. "The accident was mainly due to human error, but the | reactor itself is a very old-fashioned type," said Rudolf Schulten, a West German nuclear scientist. "The safety philosophy of this reactor would never be accepted today by any country in the Western world."
Nuclear-power advocates and adversaries alike were pleased by the Soviets' openness, but there the agreement ended. For Don Winston of the pronuclear Atomic Industrial Forum, the report, while "quite frank and quite forthcoming," means little to the U.S., where technology and safety procedures are much better. For Maize, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, the fact that the Soviet plant was "run by the Marx Brothers" does not preclude similar problems in other countries. "It struck me as terrifying that this whole comedy of errors could actually have taken place," he says, adding that it is "not at all inconsistent with what we have seen at U.S. plants."
In Europe reaction to the report was strong, if only because some Europeans are still suffering from the aftereffects of Chernobyl. Sweden was one of the countries most seriously affected, and last week Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson, who once accepted nuclear power, gave a bitter speech in which he charged that "Chernobyl has spread radioactive iodine and cesium over our fields, forests, marshes and lakes." The accident has cost Sweden at least $144 million in ruined food and threatens the livelihood of 15,000 Lapp nomads who live in central Sweden. The reindeer they raise and the berries and fish they eat have all been seriously contaminated by radiation. Concluded Carlsson: "We must get rid of nuclear power." Sweden plans to phase out its twelve plants before the year 2010.
Concern in other European countries remains high. In France, which has 44 nuclear-power plants, an independent group of scientists, farmers and doctors claim they have found significant levels of radioactive cesium in goat cheese, leeks and other foods. In Britain the Foreign Office is investigating the possibility of bringing international legal action against the Soviets in an effort to recover losses incurred by sheep farmers who were prevented from bringing their animals to slaughter because the sheep had eaten contaminated grass.
The investigation of the accident is completed, but the cleanup effort at Chernobyl continues. In recent weeks it has been slowed to a crawl by a series of technical troubles. The biggest problem is to encase the reactor, which is still emitting dangerous radioactive particles, in a concrete tomb. The Soviets have run short of cement and have had to install a ventilation system to prevent heat buildup, which might cause new fires and explosions. The Communist Party daily Pravda has criticized the slowness of the effort, pointing out that three other nuclear reactors located on the site cannot resume operation until the fourth is sealed. "Life cannot return to normal in the area until the tomb is built," said Pravda.