CNN.com - Nuclear scare on Chernobyl date
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KIEV, Ukraine -- Europe's largest atomic power station has partially closed down over safety fears on the anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster at Chernobyl.
The Zaporizhia plant in the Ukraine was forced to close one of its reactors on Thursday after a major electricity cable in the safety system was damaged, the state nuclear company Energoatom said in a statement.
The incident at Reactor 3 comes on the 16th anniversary of another Ukrainian nuclear incident, Chernobyl, in which 28 workers died in the immediate aftermath of the plant's explosion and fire.
No radiation leaks were reported in the latest incident and the reactor is expected to reopen on Saturday.
Three of Zaporizhia's six reactors are already shut down for repairs.
An 18-mile exclusion zone was set up around Chernobyl by the then Soviet regime and outsiders have been barred from the area although some locals still remain in the area.
The plant exploded on April 26, 1986, sending a radioactive cloud over much of Europe. It was closed permanently in December 2000.
Health officials are alarmed at government plans to build on the site despite it still being contaminated with radiation.
Millions affected
Incidents of Chernobyl cancer-related illnesses are on the increase with thyroid cancer cases increasing from 119 in 1986 to 3,022 last year.
Those worst affected appear to be the young, with more than 2,100 people under 18 at the time of the accident having undergone thyroid surgery over the past 16 years.
Redevelopment was first broached earlier this year when the United Nations urged the refocusing of international aid on developing the Chernobyl infrastructure rather than on continued humanitarian aid.
Volodymyr Kholosha, an official in charge of the Chernobyl zone, said government plans include economic development and soil study and management. He said the programme should be approved by parliament this year.
However, Chernobyl victims' groups have expressed scepticism about redeveloping the isolated zone, stressing instead the individual needs of those affected by the disaster.
The accident affected 3.3 million Ukrainians, including 1.5 million children, and the government is behind in payments to victims by a total of $117 million.
Hundreds of people gathered in the nearby town of Slavutych at 1:23 a.m. on Thursday with candles and flowers for their annual memorial to the Chernobyl victims.
The portraits of the 26 men and two women who died are etched into the low, grey granite wall in the square commemorating workers who were killed.
