Ukrainian PM reports accident at nuclear power plant

The accident had occurred at the Zaporizhye nuclear power plant (NPP) in south-east Ukraine.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Wednesday an accident had occurred at the Zaporizhye nuclear power plant (NPP) in south-east Ukraine and called on the energy minister to hold a news conference.

“I know that an accident has occurred at the Zaporizhye NPP,” Yatseniuk said, asking new energy minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn to make clear when the problem would be resolved and what steps would be taken to restore normal power supply across Ukraine.

“The accident happened in the third block of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in the power output section. This is in no way associated with the reactor,” Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn told reporters. Demchyshyn said tests would be run at the affected block over the next two days and “by Friday it will be working at full strength.

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A statement on the power plant’s website had said that production unit three had been disconnected from the power network until December 5 and that radiation levels around the plant were “unchanged”.

Ukraine was the scene of the worst nuclear accident in history in 1986, when an explosion at the Chernobyl power plant in the north of the country released radiation across large swathes of Europe and the then Soviet Union.

(With Agencies)

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