A nuclear reactor in western Ukraine was shut down after operators found steam leaking from an electrical power generator, the country's nuclear power monopoly said in a statement today.

 Workers noticed the steam leak in the number three reactor of the Rivne atomic power plant yesterday, the state–run Energoatom company said.

 Steam that flows through pipes and feeds the reactor's huge turbine generators is not radioactive, and no radiation leaks were reported at the station. The reactor was expected to be back online by April 10, the statement said.

 Ukraine was the site of world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986, when a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded and spewed radiation over much of Europe.