There was a fire at a nuclear center in Poland

A fire broke out in a laboratory at the National Center for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) Science and Technology Park in the town of Otwock, Mazowieckie Voivodeship, Poland. The fire has already been extinguished, there was no threat to nuclear safety. This was reported by TVN Warszawa on December 18.

"The emergency services of the nuclear center acted very quickly, a fire department and police were on the spot," Dariusz Socha, deputy director for economic affairs of the NCBJ, told the TV channel.

He noted that the center's facility, where the fire occurred, is located at a considerable distance from the nuclear research reactor, so the latter was not in danger.

Senior Captain Maciej Lodygowski of the Otwock fire department told the TV channel that 32 people had evacuated from the burning building on their own before the first units arrived. Two people were injured, hospitalized with burns to the face and hands, they are conscious. The fire has already been extinguished.

According to unofficial data cited by TVN Warszawa, the fire started after a sudden explosion that occurred in the basement of the two-story brick building of the center during a scientific study. About 10 liters of combustible material detonated and the flames escaped through a window. The incident did not cause serious damage to other buildings.

The TV channel reminds that NCBJ is one of the largest research institutes in Poland, and the MARIA reactor located there is the only one in the country.

Earlier, on July 18, in Bavaria, Germany, there was a fire in the reactor area at the nuclear power plant (NPP) "Grafenreinfeld", which was decommissioned. The cause was probably a technical fault in the ventilation system. The fire was extinguished and no radiation leakage was allowed.

At the moment there are only three nuclear power plants operating in Germany. Initially, they were going to be shut down by January 1, 2023. However, against the backdrop of the energy crisis, several parties have called for the continued operation of the plants.