Russian Nuclear Power Plant on Fire

Emergency crews battle fire at Russian nuclear power plant

No reports of injuries or radiation leak

A fire broke out at a nuclear power plant in Russia on Monday, but emergency crews were able to quickly extinguish the blaze and there were no reports of injuries or radiation leaks, officials said. The fire started in a turbine hall at the Rostov nuclear power plant in southern Russia at around 7:30 a.m. local time (12:30 a.m. ET), according to a statement from the plant's operator, Rosenergoatom.

The fire was contained to the turbine hall and did not spread to the reactor building, Rosenergoatom said. The plant's two reactors were automatically shut down when the fire broke out and are now in a safe state, the company said.

Emergency crews were able to extinguish the fire within an hour, Rosenergoatom said. The company said there were no injuries to workers or members of the public, and that there was no radiation leak.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The Rostov nuclear power plant is one of the largest in Russia. It has four reactors that generate about 4,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to power millions of homes.

The fire at the Rostov nuclear power plant is the second major fire at a nuclear power plant in Russia in recent years. In 2019, a fire broke out at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power plant in Siberia, killing 75 people.