Accident at Ukraine nuclear plant forces reactor shutdown but ‘no danger’

Ukraine’s energy minister has said a technical fault at a nuclear power plant in the south has cut power production but he insisted the incident poses no danger.

Volodymyr Demchishin said that the fault at a power-generating unit No 3 in the Zaporozhiya plant led to a drop in electricity production, and that normal output will be restored by the weekend.

The plant’s operator said earlier this week that a problem had occurred with a power-generating unit, but concern was provoked yesterday after Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk referred to an unspecified incident during a cabinet meeting.