Saturday May 19 10:56 AM ET Fire Put Out at British Nuclear Plant By Andrew Hay

LONDON (Reuters) - A fire broke out at a nuclear power station in southeast England on Saturday but was quickly extinguished with no damage done to the plant's two reactors.

The blaze began in a turbine alternator connected to the number one reactor at Dungeness power plant, some 60 miles southeast of London on the Kent coast.

Local residents saw steam and black smoke billowing from the turbine and police warned them to keep their windows and doors closed while fire fighters tackled the blaze.

The reactor was shut down and the blaze was extinguished within an hour.

``There were no injuries and no radiological consequences,'' said Robin Thornton, a spokesman for Dungeness, operated by state-run British Nuclear Fuels. ``We're talking about a fire that could have happened at any industrial complex.''

Each of the station's two reactors have two turbine alternators connected to them. The devices are used to transform nuclear reactions into electrical power.

The fire was in a starter device about the size of a small shed at the end of the turbine alternator which is roughly 115 feet long and 20 feet high.

Several hundred staff and contractors involved in servicing the number two reactor were on site.

Thornton said the fire seemed to have been caused by an electrical fault.

It was not yet clear how long the number one reactor would be out of action but the starter device had been completely destroyed.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010519/ts/britain_fire_dc_1.html

-- Carl Jenkins (somewherepress@aol.com), May 19, 2001