World Notes SOVIET UNION

Nearly three years after the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster, Mikhail Gorbachev made his first visit to Chernobyl last week. The Soviet leader seemed intent on cleaning up the continuing environmental and political fallout from the accident. Soviet newspapers in recent weeks have reported the births of deformed farm animals and widespread radioactive contamination of land and food. Local workers surrounded Gorbachev to tell him of their worry about the health consequences.

Clad in a white coat and cap, a sympathetic Gorbachev and his wife Raisa inspected the reopened facility, in the shadow of the entombed reactor No. 4, and stopped to ask the plant's staff about new safety measures. Gorbachev called the Chernobyl accident "very serious for the whole world," adding, "Through science and technology, we need to give energy to the nation, but safety remains the most important thing." Forty-eight hours later, the first ! unit of a twelve-year-old nuclear-power plant in Armenia was shut down. Under public pressure, authorities conceded that the operation was too risky in the earthquake zone.