one worker was killed and two were injured in a furnace accident friday on the grounds of a nuclear power plant near st. petersburg but reactors were unaffected, russian officials said in a statement carried by dpa. a 32-year-old man died after sustaining 90 per cent burns when molten metal erupted from a smelter one kilometre from the leningrad nuclear power station)s main building, news agencies reported. no power generating units were damaged and radiation levels at the plant were normal, the federal nuclear authority rosatom said, rejecting initial reports that the furnace exploded. a criminal investigation was launched into the accident, which was thought to have resulted from an air pocket forming inside the smelter. the power station is situated in the town of sosnovy bor, 80 kilometres west of st. petersburg and near the border with finland. --spa 22:42 local time 19:42 gmt nnnn
