Worker Error Shuts 2 Reactors at Chernobyl
Two reactors were shut off Friday at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant because a “mistake by personnel” caused a problem in their water-cooling system, the state news agency Tass reported.
“This is purely a technical stop, which poses no danger for people and the natural environment,” shift supervisor N. Fedoseyev was quoted as saying.
An explosion and fire at the plant in 1986 sent a radioactive cloud across neighboring European countries and around the world and caused irreparable damage to the agriculture and ecology of the immediate region.
Official reports said 31 people were killed in the partial meltdown, but unofficial reports said 250 people died. Four years after the accident, more than 2 million people are still living on contaminated lands in the region.
Chernobyl’s first and second reactors were shut down Friday after levels of high-quality cooling water dipped below permissible levels, Fedoseyev was quoted as saying. The third working reactor continued to operate.
Since the explosion in 1986, the plant has been shut down at least once. Last August, reactor No. 3 was shut down for an unspecified problem.
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