A Ukraine nuclear plant accident occurred last Friday at Zaporozhskaya nuclear plant, according to Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk during the first session of his new Cabinet. Located in the southeast of the country, the plant where the minor Ukraine nuclear plant accident took place is considered the largest in Europe.
According to the facility's website, a reactor was switched off inside the plant, putting it to maintenance as a result.
However, the Ukraine nuclear plant accident has not been made public until Wednesday, according to RT.
Yatseniuk announced the Ukraine nuclear plant accident as having occurred at the Zaporozhskaya nuclear power plant (NPP) in south-east Ukraine, whilst calling on the energy minister to hold a news conference to report what took place and how they are handling the accident.
"I know that an accident has occurred at the Zaporizhye NPP," said Yatseniuk, after which asking Vladimir Demchyshyn to shed light on the problem and it would be resolved and steps they would be taking to restore normal power supply across Ukraine.
Ukraine's energy minister, Demchyshyn, followed suit and said that the Ukraine nuclear plant accident posed no risk whatsoever to residents of the area.
"There is no threat ... there are no problems with the reactors," Demchyshyn said at briefing. The minister added that the Ukraine nuclear plant accident have affected the power output system and is "in no way" linked to power production itself.
According to Demchyshyn, the reactor would be restarted December 5.
Four more reactors at the plant are still operational, says the facility's website, and one of them is also going through planned repairs.
The Ukraine nuclear plant accident last week is reportedly unconnected with the reactor. There is no leak of radiation found of the reactor.
Meanwhile, Russian media reported that the Ukraine nuclear plant accident at Zaporozhskaya nuclear plant has contributed to the energy shortage in Ukraine, leaving several dozen towns and villages without electricity. Its fossil power plants are reportedly running out of coal.
Ukrenergo, the national energy company handling he country's energy resources, has recently launched emergency power cuts all over the country to help sustain energy. According to the company, the current coal stockpiles in the east will only last for four more days.
Demchyshyn has therefore announced that the country may experience two-hour blackouts due to the Ukraine nuclear plant accident. He also admitted that he would prefer Ukrainian enterprises to voluntarily limit their energy consumption and to switch to night production if at all possible.
"We will try to do our best to smoothen the schedule of energy use," Demchyshyn said.
News agency Interfax Ukraine said the problem during the Ukraine nuclear plant accident occurred at bloc No 3 - a 1,000-megawatt reactor. It resulted in the lack of output which worsened the power crisis in the country, reports Reuters.
According to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), they have no comment to make on the Ukraine nuclear plant accident at Zaporoshskaya so far.
Whether or not the Ukraine nuclear plant accident has a nuclear risk or not, it has resulted in a greater economic strain on Ukraine's already overstretched energy sector, according to The Telegraph. The country relies on nuclear power for supplying about 50 percent of its electricity.
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