EuropeOthersTechnologyWorld News

France nuclear: Marcoule site explosion kills one

One person has been killed and four injured, one seriously, in a blast at the Marcoule nuclear site in France.

There was no risk of a radioactive leak after the blast, caused by a fire near a furnace in the Centraco radioactive waste storage site, said officials.

The plant’s owner, national electricity provider EDF, said it had been “an industrial accident, not a nuclear accident”, which was under control.

There are no nuclear reactors at the southern French site.

The explosion hit the area at 11:45 local time (09:45 GMT). A security cordon was set up as a precaution.

Interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet later said there had been no leak of radiation, neither inside nor outside the plant.

The Centraco treatment centre belongs to a subsidiary of EDF. It produces MOX fuel, which recycles plutonium from nuclear weapons.

The EDF spokesman said the furnace affected had been burning waste, including fuels, tools and clothing which had been used in nuclear energy production but had only very low levels of radiation.

“The fire caused by the explosion was under control,” he said. Another official later said the incident was over.

None of the injured workers was contaminated by radiation, said officials.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it was in touch with the French authorities to learn more about the nature of the explosion.

Director General Yukiya Amano said the organization’s incident centre had been “immediately activated”, Reuters reports.

France’s Environment Minister Nathalie Kosciuscko-Morizet was due visit the site on Monday, AFP quoted her ministry as saying, to “help carry out a precise evaluation of the possible radiological impact of this accident”.

“For the time being, no exterior impact has been detected,” said a ministry spokesman.

Stress tests

Marcoule was opened in 1955 and is one of France’s oldest nuclear sites, though it has been extensively modernized.

It is located in the Gard department in Languedoc-Roussillon region, near France’s Mediterranean coast.

All the country’s 58 nuclear reactors have been put through stress tests in recent months, following the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant which was hit by an earthquake and tsunami.
EDF’s share prices fell by more than 6% as news of the blast emerged.

The BBC’s Christian Fraser in Paris says nuclear safety is a highly sensitive issue in France, which relies on nuclear power to meet 75% of its energy needs.

In June, France announced it was investing 1bn Euros (£860m) in the nuclear industry, including a significant boost for research into nuclear safety

French nuclear giant Areva is developing the next generation of nuclear reactors and has been involved in a huge publicity campaign since the Fukushima disaster to reassure the public of the safety of nuclear energy.

Other countries in Europe, including Germany, Italy and Switzerland, have said they will reduce or phase out their use of nuclear power over the next few years.

Back to top button