No radioactivity leak after blaze at nuclear plant

SHIZUOKA (Kyodo) A facility at the Hamaoka Nuclear Power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture caught fire shortly before noon Saturday, but the blaze was quickly extinguished and there were no leaks of radioactivity, the Shizuoka Prefectural Government said.

The fire occurred on the roof of a turbine building at the No. 2 reactor at about 11:30 a.m., when the reactor was undergoing a regular inspection.

In-house firefighters put out the blaze with two fire extinguishers.

Local firefighters confirmed the fire had been completely extinguished about 50 minutes later. The blaze burned part of a rubber waterproofing wall in the turbine building.

The fire broke out when an inspector tried to remove hydrogen gas from the turbine building as part of preparations to shut down the reactor before the inspection began. Fire officials said the blaze was probably started by static electricity.