A reactor at a nuclear power plant near Saint Petersburg was shut down on Wednesday because of a technical fault, the plant's management said.

Reactor No 4 at Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant was shut down at 4.25 am (0025 GMT) because of a broken circulation pump, according to a statement.

Radioactivity in the surrounding area is within permitted levels, the statement said.

The shutdown means only two of the four reactors at the plant are now in operation. Reactor No 1 was stopped at the start of the month for planned repair work.

Situated in the town of Sosnovy Bor , 70 kilometers (45 miles) from Saint Petersburg , Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant (which still uses the Soviet name for Saint Petersburg ) has the same type of reactors as those used at Chernobyl .

On April 26, 1986 , an explosion in Reactor No 4 at the Ukrainian facility caused the worst disaster in civilian nuclear history.

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