Ukraine reports accident at Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant

Ukraine reports accident at Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant
By Euronews with Reuters, International Business Times, Daily Telegraph, RT
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The government in Kyiv insists there is no threat to the public after a reactor was shut down at the plant in southeastern Ukraine.

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Ukraine has reported an accident at a nuclear power plant but the government says it poses no danger.

It happened on November 28, forcing one reactor to be shut down.

The Zaporizhzhya plant in the country’s southeast produces
a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity.

It lies some 300 kilometres west of Donetsk, well away from the conflict zone where the Ukrainian army is fighting pro-Russian separatists.

Since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, under an international convention countries are supposed to report any nuclear accident to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. It said it had no immediate comment.

Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn insisted there was no threat.

“Today and tomorrow, tests are being carried out and from Friday, the plant will be back working normally. There is no problem with the reactor, there’s no link at all to the reactor. None whatsoever… forget it,” he told a news conference.

His statement said the problem was caused by an electrical short circuit, which caused “technical damage” but did not threaten the reactor.

Some disruption to electricity supplies has been reported.

News of the accident was revealed by the Prime Minister Andriy Yatsenyuk as his new cabinet met.

The nuclear industry provides about half of Ukraine’s electricity.

It is expected to be in greater demand this winter due to fuel shortages resulting from the suspension of Russian gas supplies.

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