KIEV Ukraine AP Energy shortages have forced Ukraine to postpone repairs on the sole operational reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant by at least two weeks officials said Tuesday. Chernobyl's reactor No. 3 would be operating until Dec. 15 before energy authorities decide whether to stop it a spokesman with the state nuclear energy company Energoatom said. Ukraine's Nuclear Regulation Administration earlier this month ordered the reactor be shut down Tuesday warning that some safety equipment was reaching the end of its operational life and needed to be upgraded or replaced. The Nuclear Regulation Administration chief Oleksander Smyshliaev said his agency has decided to grant Energoatom's request to prolong the reactor's work but stressed that it has to be stopped as soon as possible. There have been frequent malfunctions at the reactor despite lengthy repairs between July 1997 and May 1998. Another Chernobyl reactor was destroyed in a 1986 explosion and fire the world's worst nuclear accident. However the Energy Ministry has repeatedly protested the order to shut down the working reactor saying it was 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 in Ukraine to make up for the energy loss. Ukraine faces a huge energy deficit this winter because conventional energy plants collectively owed more than dlrs 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 -15 C 5 F. Ukrainian officials hope that three of five other nuclear reactors currently undergoing repairs would be restarted by Dec. 15 which would allow them to stop the Chernobyl reactor. Ukraine's five nuclear power plants operate 14 reactors. Western nations have long demanded the shutdown of the working Chernobyl reactor amid growing worries over its safety. Reactor No. 3 has been Chernobyl's only working reactor since 1996. pvs/sms/adc APW19981201.0860.txt.body.html APW19981201.1185.txt.body.html