The Swedish operator of a German nuclear plant hit by a fire two weeks ago admitted to a "misunderstanding" between senior staff on duty at the time, according to dpa. The admission by Vattenfall Europe came after police searched offices at the site of the reactor at Kruemmel, near Geesthacht, 30 kilometres south-east of Hamburg. In a report on the incident to regulators that was available on the company website Saturday, Vattenfall said there was a breakdown in communications between the reactor operator and the shift manager. The misunderstanding involved the operation of valves designed to slow a rise in pressure in the reactor's casing, following the failure of a water pump, the company said. The operator opened two valves for several minutes, instead of alternately opening and closing them as the manager wanted. As a result, pressure dropped rapidly in a short period, Vattenfall said. The Swedish company has been forced to defend itself over its public handling of the June 28 incident, which led to the reactor being shut down. On Friday police questioned the reactor operator over whether he inhaled smoke which entered the control room after fire started in a transformer separate from the reactor building.
