Chernobyl Insists It's Y2K-Safe...12/16/99

CHERNOBYL, Ukraine (AP) - Rainer Goehring spends his days helping ensure the Chernobyl nuclear plant is safe, but he plans to be far away when the New Year rolls around. Just in case. Ukrainian officials say Chernobyl, scene of the world's worst nuclear accident, has been purged of the Year 2000 computer problem. Goehring, a civil engineer who manages a project on storing spent nuclear fuel, says he's heard the assurances and decided to leave. "I'm not convinced," said Goehring. "I propose everybody decide for themselves." International monitors say they do not expect all systems at Soviet-era nuclear power plants in Ukraine, Armenia and Lithuania to be Y2K compliant by the New Year, creating the possibility of widespread blackouts - or perhaps worse. No one is sure what Y2K glitches might do.