KIEV, February 26 (RIA Novosti) - Two expert commissions that examined the site of a partial roof collapse at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) said on Tuesday that there is no danger to humans or the environment.
Wall panels and parts of the roof caved in on February 12 in the turbine hall at the plant's Reactor Number Four, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986. The damaged area covered about 600 square meters (6,456 square feet).
“This event did not affect the station’s safety. It created no danger to people’s lives and health, poses no environmental risks and cannot be considered an accident,” the commissions said in their final report, published on Tuesday.
The collapse did not affect the safety of the damaged reactor’s cover, the report said.
The commissions blamed the collapse on “a combination of negative factors,” including an unsafe truss that was probably damaged during the 1986 disaster.
The commissions recommended removing the debris, restoring the damaged elements and carrying out additional safety inspections of the turbine hall’s supporting structure.