Fire at nuclear power station

A nuclear power station was evacuated today after a fire broke out near a reactor, Kent fire brigade said.

Fire-fighters spent nearly an hour bringing the blaze under control in the conventional side of Dungeness A power station in Kent.

The fire started on one of two turbine alternators which are connected with the reactor, a fire service spokeswoman said.

She said: ‘‘A decision was taken to shut down the reactor as a precaution and the brigade was called at 10.25am this morning.

‘‘Several hundred people were evacuated, but fire-fighters extinguished the fire within an hour.

‘‘No-one was injured and no radiological damage was caused by the fire.’’

The spokeswoman added: ‘‘The reactor and turbine at the site will undergo full safety examinations before they are used again.’’

British Nuclear Fuels issued a statement which read: ‘‘At about 10.25 this morning a fire broke out in the turbine hall on the conventional (non-nuclear) side of Dungeness A power station.

‘‘The fire started on one of two turbine-alternators connected with Reactor One. The decision was taken to shut the reactor down and call Kent Fire Brigade.’’

It went on to say: ‘‘The fire brigade extinguished the fire within an hour. Several hundred staff and contractors - involved in the outage (annual maintenance) - on Reactor Two were on site.

‘‘They were called together and all accounted for. There were no injuries and no radiological consequences.’’

It concluded: ‘‘We will be examining the damage to the turbine-alternator as the day progresses.’’