The IAEA today contacted Ukrainian authorities who informed the Agency that a reactor at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant remained safely shut down following a short circuit in the plant’s transformer yard last week.

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 contacted the Inspectorate following media reports of a purported accident.

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.

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.