FINNISH NUKE PLANT SHUTS DOWN; NO RADIATION LEAK REPORTED

A nuclear reactor in Finland entered an automatic shutdown after a radiation spike was detected inside the plant’s systems, but no radiation escaped the facility, Al Jazeera reported.

“This is a significant and an exceptional incident and we consider it important to spread correct information about it,” Finland’s Minister of Social Affairs and Health Aino-Kaisa Pekonen told reporters. The elevated readings stemmed from a room regularly showing higher values during normal operations, and no power company employees had been exposed to radiation or were injured, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) also reported

Jarmo Tanhua, CEO of the nuclear power plant operator TVO, said the incident was an unparalleled event in the facility’s history. TVO is a consortium of power and industrial companies. “There is no danger to people or the environment” from the incident at the Olkiluoto 2 power plant in western Finland, said Tomi Routamo, deputy director at nuclear safety authority STUK.

Although radiation levels around the plant are normal and there was no external leak, STUK described the incident in a tweet as “serious” and said readiness protocols had been launched in conjunction with the plant’s operator, TVO. STUK later announced: “The situation is stable and the plant is safe,” and radiation levels had returned to normal. “No such event has happened in Finland before,” Routamo added.