Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in a turbine. Reactors 1 and 3 were eventually closed due to an agreement Ukraine made with the EU in 1995. Ukraine agreed to close the remaining units in exchange for EU assistance in modernizing the shelter over reactor N. 4 and improving the energy sector of the country, including the completion of two new nuclear reactors, Khmelnitski 2 and Rovno 4. Reactor N. 1 was shut down in 1996 with N. 3 following in 2000. On September 9, 1982, a partial core meltdown occurred in Reactor N. 1 at the Chernobyl plant. The extent of the damage was minor,
Environmental impact of nuclear power of global nuclear power capacity. A release of radioactive materials followed the 2011 Japanese tsunami which damaged the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, resulting in hydrogen gas explosions and partial meltdowns classified as a Level 7 event. The large-scale release of radioactivity resulted in people being evacuated from a 20 km exclusion zone set up around the power plant, similar to the 30 km radius Chernobyl Exclusion Zone still in effect. But published works suggest that the radioactivity levels have lowered enough to now have only a limited impact on wildlife. In Japan, in July 2016, Fukushima Prefecture announced that