"Ukraine insists on additional conditions for the tender to build a new sarcophagus," he said. "This involves, above all, the need to ensure the safety and security of the casing."
The Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose confederation of former Soviet republics, issued an appeal Tuesday for the world to join forces in building a new shell at the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
A sarcophagus was built over the destroyed reactor after the accident, but needs to be replaced due to cracks in the structure.
Vast areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, as well as northern Europe, were contaminated by the fallout of the reactor explosion in the fourth unit of the Chernobyl NPP in Ukraine on April 26, 1986.
About 135,000 people were evacuated from within an 18-mile zone, which has left the surrounding area largely deserted to this day. Some, however, stayed or have returned to live in the area, despite the radiation threat.
According the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which has been entrusted with managing the Chernobyl Shelter Fund, the construction of the new, environmentally safe shelter will cost $768 million and will contain what is left of the reactor for at least 100 years.
EBRD has announced a tender for the construction of the sarcophagus, but it has yet to be concluded because the bidding offers estimate the costs of the project to be around $1 billion. The Fund so far has $900 mln.
The Russian government contributed $10 mln to the Chernobyl Shelter Fund in 2005 and instructed the Federal Agency for Nuclear Power to participate in the activities of the international fund.
In addition, Russia and Ukraine have decided to form a bilateral working group for coordinating activities on long-term dry storage of nuclear fuel after the complete closure of the NPP.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko have discussed the condition of the nuclear power plant and care for disaster survivors.
Yushchenko said the construction of a new sarcophagus over the reactor could be completed in 2010.
