One person died on Friday at a uranium enrichment plant in Russia’s Urals region after a cylinder containing a depleted uranium compound ruptured, state atomic energy agency Rosatom said, citing Reuters and News .ro.

Rosatom stated that the level of radiation at the NPP and the surrounding area is normal, and assured that the incident does not pose a threat to people living in the area.

“It is with deep sadness that we report the tragic incident at the Ural Electrochemical Plant, as a result of which a worker died,” Rosatom said.

The agency said the worker died of “mechanical trauma” caused by a crack in a container containing uranium hexafluoride, a chemical compound used to enrich uranium.

Rosatom, which owns the plant, said the depleted form of the compound is less radioactive than natural uranium.

“Residents are not in danger”

The department said that other employees, however, have been sent for medical examination, and most of them have already been discharged after undergoing decontamination procedures.

“There is no danger for the residents of the city of Novouralsk and for the plant’s personnel,” said the deputy director of the plant Yuriy Mineev.

The plant claims to enrich uranium for use in nuclear power plants and is the largest of its kind in the world. According to her, the causes of the incident are being established.