VIENNA, December 3 /TASS/. Ukraine has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that a nuclear power reactor remains safely shut down at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant following a short circuit in the plant’s transformer yard last week, the IAEA said in a statement published on its website.
“Ukraine’s State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate informed the IAEA that a short circuit occurred at a voltage transformer yard at the plant on 28 November 2014, causing Unit 3 to automatically shut down,” the IAEA went on to say.
“The Inspectorate said no radioactive materials had been released because of the shutdown. It preliminarily estimated the event to be a level 0-rated event on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale. The scale ranges from 0 to 7, with level 0 used for situations that have no safety significance,” the agency’s statement said.
According to the IAEA, “automatic shutdowns occasionally occur at nuclear power plants due to various reasons including problems in transformer yards or generators, which are external to reactor buildings.”