KIEV: A reactor at a nuclear power station in the south of Ukraine has been shut down following an electrical failure but radiation levels were not elevated, authorities said on Tuesday.
The second reactor of the Yuzhno-Ukrainskaya Nuclear Power Station in the south of Ukraine was shut down following the failure of its main transformer and the subsequent breakage of the high voltage power line late Monday, the emergencies ministry said.
"The reactor no 2 has been switched to the minimum capacity and unplugged from Ukraine's energy grid," the emergencies ministry said in a statement on
its website.
"Radiation and fire safety levels are normal," it said, adding the nuclear power station's employees were taking steps to bring the situation under control.
Ukraine is home to the now defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant whose fourth reactor exploded in April 1986 with fallout hitting the three Soviet republics along with a large part of Europe.
The Chernobyl nuclear plant is located about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Kiev and close to the borders with Russia and Belarus. The explosion remains the world's worst nuclear disaster.
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