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Russian forces seize Ukrainian nuclear power plant after part of it catches fire during fighting

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Part of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Europe's largest, caught fire during fighting in the area, before Russian forces seized it.

Ukraine said Russian forces attacked the plant in the early hours of Friday (March 4), setting an adjacent five-storey training facility on fire. 

The fire was put out and no injuries were reported.

The authorities said the facility was safe and radiation levels in the area were normal.

Western leaders condemned what they described as a Russian attack on the nuclear plant, accusing Moscow of endangering millions of people.

But Russia’s defence ministry blamed the attack on Ukrainian saboteurs, calling it a monstrous provocation.

The incident is bound to raise further questions about nuclear power, amid reports of a possible increase in its  use in the wake of climate change, soaring oil prices and doubts over energy security.

On the same day the Ukrainian nuclear plant caught fire, Japan’s Supreme Court upheld an order for utility Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) to pay damages of 1.4 billion yen (S$16.5 million) to about 3,700 people whose lives were devastated by the Fukushima nuclear disaster. 

Public broadcaster NHK said the average payout of about 380,000 yen (S$4,475) for each plaintiff covered three class-action lawsuits, among more than 30 against the utility, which are the first to be finalised. 

A massive tsunami unleashed by an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 off Japan’s north-eastern coast struck Tepco’s Fukushima Daiichi power plant in March 2011, to cause the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, the Soviet-era accident in Ukraine. 

About 470,000 people in Fukushima were forced to evacuate in the first few days, and tens of thousands have not yet been able to return. 

The court rejected an appeal by Tepco and ruled it negligent in taking preventive measures against a tsunami of that size, the broadcaster said. 

The court withheld a verdict on the role of the government, which is also a defendant in the lawsuits, and will hold a hearing next month to rule on its culpability, NHK added.

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