Severe cold triggered a safety mechanism at the Temelin nuclear power plant overnight on Sunday

Severe cold caused a failure at the Temelin nuclear power plant Sunday night, forcing the plant to partly disconnect from the electricity grid for five hours. The temperature at Temelin, in southern Bohemia, fell to around minus 20 degrees Celsius, and the cold affected a sensor that automatically triggered a power reduction, a Temelin spokesman said. Temperatures reached minus 30 degrees elsewhere in the Czech Republic and the cold was blamed for the death of two homeless men.