KIEV, Ukraine -- In Ukraine, the words “nuclear accident” conjure up memories of Chernobyl -- the world's worst nuclear catastrophe.
But those were the words Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk chose on Wednesday when describing problems at the Zaporizhye nuclear power plant in southeast Ukraine, without giving further details.
Reuters first carried a quote from the prime minister, who said, "I know that an accident has occurred at the Zaporizhye [nuclear power plant]."
Yatsenyuk immediately called on the new Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn to hold a press conference to explain the issue.
Ukraine Energy Min says reactor problem was with generator side, not reactor itself. says main problem is shortage of power, thus blackouts— greg white (@whitegl) December 3, 2014
"There is no threat ... there are no problems with the reactors," Demchyshyn said at briefing, adding that the accident affected the power output system and "in no way" was linked to power production itself, Reuters quoted him as saying. The reactor was expected to come back on stream on Friday, he added.
According to Interfax-Ukraine news agency, the complications occurred at the power plant’s bloc No. 3, where a 1,000-megawatt reactor is located. The slowdown in energy production caused rolling blackouts across the country, which is already experiencing a power crisis.
NB: If you're an official in *Ukraine* and you say the words *nuclear accident* it's advisable to clarify the safety situation post-haste.— Paul Sonne (@PaulSonne) December 3, 2014
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is the country's largest nuclear power station, and the fifth largest in the world, with six operating Soviet-era VVER-1000 pressurized light water nuclear reactors, according to the power station's website.
It sits some 150 miles west of the country's conflict-torn regions and more than 400 miles south of Chernobyl. An explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in April of 1986 sent a cloud of radioactive particles into the atmosphere that wafted across northwestern Europe.
While the Zaporizhia plant features Soviet-era reactor designs, they are not of the same disaster-prone type that were in use at Chernobyl in 1985, according to a report from the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry trade group.
Today, about 50 percent of Ukraine's power comes from its nuclear power plants, and it needs all 15 of its reactors to be operating in order to keep the lights on across the country.
Assuming it is indeed as minor as now appears, suggest Yatsenyuk goes on a "how to talk about nuclear incidents without sowing panic" course— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) December 3, 2014
Ukraine is heavily dependent on Russian nuclear fuel to power its reactors. Russia's TVEL is Ukraine's primary provider of fuel, but the country has made strides in diversifying. The American Westinghouse Electric Co. recently began supplying fuel for two reactors after settling a spat with Ukrainian authorities over the company's fuel rods in 2013 that forced it to redesign its rods.