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Fire at Moscow-based institute of physics extinguished

No radiation risks after fire at physics institute’s accelerator in Moscow
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, February 5 (Itar-Tass) —— Fire at Moscow-based institute of physics extinguished. There is no radiation threat after a fire at an accelerator unit collector of the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics in Moscow, Yuri Kozlov, the institute’s director, and Nikolai Alexeyev, the accelerator unit’s head, said on Sunday.

“In line with the schedule, the accelerator has not been operating since December 25, 2011. There are no sources of radiation of any explosion-prone equipment at the accelerator. There are no radiation risks,” the institute’s executives said on the website of the institute.

According to them, a fire broke due to yet unknown reasons at the institute’s accelerator unit in the small hours on Sunday. Duty personnel were evacuated, fire fighting operations are not yet over. No one was hurt.

Earlier, a police source told Itar-Tass that the fire fighting operation involved about ten fire brigades. The unit is covered with smoke.

The institute is located in Moscow’s Bolshaya Cheryomushkinskaya Street.