Oct 16 - Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

A rupture in a heat exchanger at Bulgaria's only nuclear power plant has caused a leak of radioactive solution, local media reported on Tuesday.

The incident was detected during scheduled annual maintenance of the sixth unit of the plant last Saturday, said the management of the plant in a statement.

The radioactive solution leaked from the decontamination system and entered a section of a pipeline in the turbine room of the nuclear power plant, according to the media.

On Sunday, the contaminated section of the pipeline was cut out and disposed of in a plant section for strict radiation control, and the entire pipeline was flushed.

No radioactive contamination was detected in the turbine room, at the plant's site or outside of it, the management said.

An early estimate by the plant showed that it was a zero-level event under the zero-to-seven International Nuclear Event Scale, which means it was of no safety significance.

A special commission appointed by the plant was investigating the incident and it has one month to report its findings to the National Radioactive Agency.

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