A new radioactive disaster simulation zone has come online at the Dukovany nuclear facility, it has been announced.

In a report in Noviny, it was noted that in addition to creating a realistic leakage scenario, a fire was also staged at one of the site's oil generators.

Speaking to Czech paper Noviny, a spokesperson for the plant said that the first stage of the training and development simulation had been a success.

"All planned tasks were fulfilled nearly without any problems, only one fax did not reach its destination and the information was sent by electronic mail," said Petr Spilka.

Peter Rydlo, head of the plant's radiation protection section, explained that Austrian officials had been informed about the operation, which was the biggest training scenario in the history of the Czech Republic.

The Dukovany plant is located around 30km south of Trebic and came online in 1978, with four pressurised water reactors generating 440 MW of energy each.

Oil and Gas Directory: Training and Development