A fire broke out Tuesday at a surface waste treatment unit at Lithuania’s Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. It was quickly extinguished and did not affect radiation levels, officials said.
The blaze was contained less than 30 minutes after firefighters arrived, and no injuries were reported.
“At 19:07, the fire was declared extinguished,” plant spokeswoman Jolita Mažeikienė told BNS. She said the incident began when a new batch of metal radioactive waste was loaded into a shot-blasting machine used for decontamination.
“It was closed and started up. After a while, a dull sound was heard and smoke began coming from the machine’s filters,” Mažeikienė said. Staff members reacted immediately, she added, calling firefighters and evacuating the area.
The Fire and Rescue Department said it received the report at 16:37. Fire crews arrived within three minutes, evacuated nine people from the building and contained the blaze by 17:05. The building involved was classified as one of the site’s lowest-risk facilities.
Both the Fire and Rescue Department and the Radiation Protection Centre said the fire posed no threat to the public.
“The ambient radiation level is unchanged and there is no threat to residents or the environment,” the radiation agency said in a statement.
Mažeikienė said the fire broke out in an area where the least radioactive waste is handled. Decontamination work has been suspended while the plant investigates the cause.
Further checks will be carried out across the plant to detect any changes in radiation levels, and firefighters’ equipment will undergo additional inspection.
The Ignalina plant shut down in 2009. Full dismantling is scheduled for completion by 2040.
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