DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to go ahead and then start, though, Leon, with the infamous nuclear power plant Chernobyl. It has been closed. The nuclear power plant was shut down just hours ago. The Soviet-made reactor was the site of the world's worst nuclear accident. Our Jill Dougherty is in Ukraine and filed this report.</s>JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Leonid Kuchma gave the order to permanently shut down the Chernobyl nuclear power station. They shut down, technically, the fourth reactor that was still working. Now all of them are down, including the reactor that on April 26th, 1986, exploded, sending a cloud of radioactive dust across Europe, which eventually claimed the lives of 8,000 people. This took 14 years, to close down Chernobyl, one reason, economic: Ukraine's energy shortage -- it needed, it said, the station at Chernobyl. But also, there was an economic reason: The entire shutting down will take a very long time, and it would be a very expensive operation, as much as $1 1/2 billion. The most difficult part will be taking out the nuclear fuel and storing it. That process could take 100 years. And, of course, good news, welcome news to the people of the world, that Chernobyl is being shutdown, but the workers here say they have no faith that any of their jobs will be protected: 5,000 of them will lose their jobs. I'm Jill Dougherty, CNN, reporting from the Chernobyl nuclear station.</s>KAGAN: Jill, thank you very much.
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Closed Today; Shut Down Will Be Long and Costly