Russian nuclear plant shut down

Russian nuclear plant shut down

Jan 10 - United Press International

A Russian nuclear power plant is showing normal background radiation after undergoing an emergency shutdown Sunday, officials said.

The Volgodonsk nuclear plant in southern Russia was shut down by an emergency protection system, RIA Novosti reported.

"The first unit of the Volgodonsk NPP was halted for current repairs at 9:20 a.m. Moscow time on Sunday," a source at the Rosenergoatom state nuclear watchdog agency told ITAR-Tass.

A spokesman for the plant said problems with a steam generator probably caused the activation of the protection system.

Rosenergoatom measured radiation levels at the plant and in the surrounding areas and said it "does not exceed normal background levels," RIA Novosti said.

The nuclear plant is on the bank of the Tsimlyanskoye dam lake in the Rostov region. It was the first nuclear power facility to go online in Russia after 1986's Chernobyl accident, ITAR-Tass said.

The plant said repairs to the steam generator were expected to take about four days.