Stockpiles of foreign nuclear waste "will exist in no case" in Ukraine, the president's office said in a statement.

Yushchenko apparently discarded the idea after he sparked a loud public outcry last week when he said the government was studying the possibility of storing foreign nuclear waste at Chernobyl, in the north of the country less than 150 kilometers (90 miles) from the capital Kiev.

He said waste from Ukraine's four working nuclear power plants -- currently primarily exported to Russia -- could also be stored there.

A 30-kilometer exclusion zone was established around the site soon after Chernobyl's number-four reactor, in what was then the Soviet Union and is now Ukraine, exploded on April 26, 1986, sending a radioactive cloud across Europe.

The power station was completely shut down on December 15, 2000.

meanwhile
Toxic Slick Expected To Hit China's Border River With Russia Beijing (AFP) Dec 16, 2005 A toxic slick that has threatened the water supply of several large Chinese cities in recent weeks was expected to enter the river forming the border with Russia on Thursday, state media said.

The chemical slick, which had flowed down China's Songhua river for more than a month, was expected to enter the Amur river at some point during the day, the Xinhua news agency reported.

From there the slick will eventually flow into Russia, according to earlier reports.

Xinhua news agency said the density of the toxic slick, consisting of benzene and nitrobenzene, had declined sharply,

Widespread contamination prevention efforts have been under way in China and Russia since an explosion on November 13 at a PetroChina chemical factory in the northeast Chinese province of Jilin.

The accident led to the spillage of 100 tonnes of the carcinogens into the Songhua River, one of China's longest waterways and a source of water for millions.

more froth
Sunk chemicals ship leaks oil near Portugal's Azores islands
Lisbon (AFP) Dec 15 - A ship carrying hazardous chemicals spilled 150 tonnes of oil after sinking last week off Portugal's Azores islands, Portuguese shipping authorities said on Thursday.

The 180-metre CP Valour was travelling from Montreal in Canada to Valencia in Spain with 1,850 tonnes of oil products aboard when it sank on Friday after requesting authorisation to anchor near Faial island.

Maritime authorities said by late Tuesday they had scooped up 40 cubic metres of oil residues from Baia das Cabras beach on the island, part of the Azores archipelago 972 miles (1564 kilometres) west of the capital, Lisbon.

The Bermuda-registered ship, with a crew of 21, was also carrying eight tonnes of triphenyl phosphate, six tonnes of paint and 19 tonnes of oxidants, a marine spokesman said.

Authorities fear the triphenyl phosphate, a toxic fire retardant, could prove lethal to the marine environment if it leaks.

After a Russian tugboat made several unsuccessful attempts to raise the ship, authorities hope with better weather to refloat the vessel by December.

and bubble
Oil slick on frozen lake in Russian Far East after pipeline leak
Moscow (AFP) Dec 15 - A burst pipeline has spilled oil onto a frozen lake in Russia's far eastern Sakhalin Island, the natural resources ministry said Thursday, adding that some oil had seeped into the water.

"An oil leak from the Katanglineftegaz pipeline formed a slick of some 5,000 square meters (54,000 square feet) on the ice of Lake Bedinga," the ministry said in a statement.

"Some of the oil sank under the ice and has polluted the waters of the lake," the statement said, adding that work to pump out the sunken oil was nearly complete.

An investigation has been opened into the damage caused to the pipeline, which belongs to the Russian oil giant Rosneft.

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