KIEV Ukraine AP Ukraine is so short of energy that it could not afford Tuesday to temporarily shut down the Chernobyl nuclear power plant for repairs. Earlier this month Ukraine's Nuclear Regulation Administration ordered the plant's only working reactor be temporarily stopped warning that some safety equipment was reaching the end of its operational life and needed to be upgraded or replaced. But a spokesman for the state nuclear energy company Energoatom said Tuesday that the reactor will stay active until at least Dec. 15. By then other nuclear reactors undergoing repairs are set to be restarted. Nuclear Regulation Administration chief Oleksander Smyshliaev said his agency decided to grant Energoatom's request to prolong the reactor's work but stressed that it had to be stopped as soon as possible. Another Chernobyl reactor was destroyed in a 1986 explosion and fire the world's worst nuclear accident. Since then there have been frequent malfunctions at the one remaining reactor despite lengthy repairs between July 1997 and May 1998. The Energy Ministry has repeatedly protested the order to shut down the reactor saying it is needed until the spring to ensure enough electricity for the winter months. Energoatom warned Monday that the shutdown of the Chernobyl reactor would force energy authorities to cut off entire regions of the country. Ukraine faces a huge energy deficit this winter because conventional energy plants which are owed more than 1 billion by consumers can't afford enough fuel to satisfy the demand for electricity and heat. Thousands of towns and villages in Ukraine already go without electricity for several hours every day as temperatures throughout much of the country have sunk below zero. Western nations have long demanded the shutdown of the working Chernobyl reactor amid growing worries over its safety. APW19981201.0713.txt.body.html APW19981201.1335.txt.body.html