Feb 12 collapse at Chornobyl NPP did not change radiation levels - regulator

Partial destruction of the walls and the roof of the Unit 4 engine room at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant has not changed the radiation levels at the site and within the Exclusion Zone, the Ukrainian State Nuclear Regulation Inspectorate reported on Wednesday.

"The radiation level near the damaged construction framework has not changed and is between 14 and 20 microroentgens per hour," the inspectorate said.

The inspectorate ordered that aerosol activity near the damaged wall be measured, and no changes have been detected, the regulator said.

The roof that collapsed was built after the 1986 disaster, but is not part of the Shelter facility, it said.

It was reported earlier that part of the wall panels and light roof of the engine room of Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant's Unit 4 collapsed on an area of about 600 square meters at 2:03 p.m. local time on February 12, 2013.

Judging by pictures circulated by the Emergency Situations Ministry, the construction framework collapsed at the engine room damaged during the 1986 accident.

The collapse reportedly did not injure anyone.