Short Circuit at Ukraine Nuclear Plant Cuts Power

A short circuit at a nuclear plant in Ukraine zapped electricity production, but the country was quick to emphasize that the glitch posed no danger, the AP reports. New energy minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn insisted today, per Reuters, that he's doing what he can to speed things up so Ukrainians without electricity will get power back soon. "The situation is under control, and the unit will be under repair until December 5th," said a ministry statement issued yesterday, as per CNN.

The initial report about what happened at the Zaporizhia plant came out on Monday, but it didn't gain steam until PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk addressed it at today's meeting, the AP notes. Demchyshyn assures the public that the problem originated in the electricity transmission system (not the reactor itself) and that there are other reasons that also contributed to the "imbalance of the power supply," including not enough coal in power plants' warehouses and low temperatures, CNN notes. (As that's happening, Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels have a new ceasefire.)