KYIV. Feb 27 (Interfax) - The collapse of structures in the machine compartment at Power Generating Unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has not impacted the safety of the nuclear power plant, said a commission of experts that probed the emergency.
"The incident was not a health or environmental hazard, did not cut the industrial process short and cannot be rated as an accident," the commission said in a report, posted on the nuclear power plant's website on Tuesday.
The limits and terms of safe operation of the Shelter facility were not violated, it said.
Walls and the roof partially collapsed in the machine compartment of Power Generating Unit No.4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in an area of about 600 square meters on February 12, earlier reports said. Radiation levels were not affected either in the exclusion zone, or in the nuclear power plant's premises.