¡¡Related: Explosion hits smelter at Russian nuclear plant

     MOSCOW, Dec. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- An explosion in a smelter at a Russian nuclear power plant outside the northern city of St. Petersburg, killed one and severely injured two others, Russian news agencies reported Friday.

    The blast did not affect operations of the Leningrad nuclear power plant in the town of Sosnovy Bor, and radiation levels remained normal on the site, the state nuclear agency Rosenergoatom said.

    The smelter was operated by Ecomet-S, a company recycling low-radio active scrap metal from the Leningrad plant, the RIA Novosti news agency quoted an official of the plant as saying.

    Officials in the nuclear plant said Ecomet-S "has its own fence,security, and it is located one kilometer from the power plant."

    Ecomet-S confirmed that the accident took place at 3:20 a.m. (0020 GMT) on Thursday, when hot metal spilled out from the smelter and seriously burnt three workers.

    One of the three injured died in hospital on Friday morning andthe other two, who remain in hospital, had 90 percent burns, RIA Novosti and the Itar-Tass news agency said.

    The Sosnovy Bor prosecutor's office had opened a criminal investigation into claims of a breach of safety regulations, which was the suspected cause of the blast. The operation of the smelter has been suspended pending the investigation. Enditem