Global General

World shares Chernobyl pain, Medvedev says

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-26 16:41

MOSCOW - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday that the Chernobyl nuclear disaster is a common pain for Russia, Ukraine and Belarus and is even shared by the entire international community.

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Medvedev made the remarks at the 25th anniversary of the disaster, the worst nuclear accident in history.

He compared the Chernobyl disaster with the situation at the Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan's Fukushima, and urged to learn lessons from the disasters.

Medvedev said, however, nuclear energy remained the most economically profitable source of power.

He announced that at a G8 summit in May, Russia would propose more responsibilities for the countries that run nuclear power plants. He also urged the International Atomic Energy Agency to tighten control over the international agreements on nuclear energy usage.

The Kremlin said Medvedev was expected to visit the site of the Chernobyl disaster on Tuesday along with his Ukrainian counterpart, Viktor Yanukovych, for commemorative events.

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant, located 110 km north of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, exploded on April 26, 1986, contaminating vast areas in Eastern Europe and exposing millions of people to radiation.

Russia and 27 other countries have been joining efforts to build a new protective cover for Chernobyl's broken reactor. For this purpose, Russia would contribute over $65 million in two years, said the Kremlin.