Malfunction Halts Last Chernobyl Unit

A malfunction forced the only working reactor at Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant to be shut down nine days before the plant is to be closed for good. The No. 3 reactor was halted by a safety system after fumes were detected in the reactor’s forced circulation department, and workers were cooling the reactor to determine the source, the Chernobyl press service said. Radiation levels at the plant were reported to be normal. It was the second shutdown in 1 1/2 weeks at Chernobyl. The reactor was halted Nov. 27 after an ice-covered power line snapped, causing a short circuit.