Malfunction in Czech nuclear reactor forces shutdown

An official said a Czech nuclear power plant is shutting down one of its four reactors for the second time this month due to a malfunction. He added that the reactor,however,poses no safety threat.

Petr Spilka,spokesman for the Dukovany nuclear plant says the problem occurred on one of the reactor’s 12 fittings that regulates the flow of water. Spilka says the hot irradiated water is not leaking but the flow is higher than usual.

He said today it would take several days to fix the problem,which last occurred in the plant in 1985.

The plant had to shut down the same reactor April 1 for several days due to a pipe leaking irradiated water.