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Nuclear waste site blast
Source: Agencies |
September 13, 2011, Tuesday
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A NUCLEAR waste site in southern France had an explosion yesterday that killed one person, seriously burned another and slightly injured three others, France's nuclear safety body said.
The Nuclear Safety Authority said no radioactive leaks have been detected in the blast at 12:37pm local time at an oven in the Centraco nuclear site. The accident was under control within the hour, the agency said in a statement.
Centraco is located on the grounds of another nuclear site, Marcoule, in the Languedoc-Roussillon region near the Mediterranean Sea.
"According to initial information, the explosion happened in an oven used to melt radioactive metallic waste of little and very little radioactivity," the statement said. "There have been no leaks outside of the site."
Those injured were not contaminated with radiation, and the outside of the building that houses the oven showed no sign of damage or contamination either, the agency said in a separate statement.
Officials from France's EDF power company, whose subsidiary operates Centraco, stressed that there was no nuclear reactor on the site and that no waste treated at the site of the explosion came from a reactor. Spokeswoman Carole Trivi said a fire broke out after the blast, but it has since been controlled.
The cause of the blast was not immediately known, and an investigation has been opened, Trivi said.
The material at Centraco comes from nuclear sites and therefore is mildly radioactive, spokeswoman Carole Trivi said. She said the site treats mostly waste from EDF's own power plants, as well as a small amount of material from hospitals or medical research labs.
Nothing comes from weapons manufacture, she said.
Staff at the plant reacted to the accident according to planned procedures, the authority said in the statement. The local Midi Libre newspaper reported that no quarantine or evacuation measures had been immediately undertaken.
Blast site sealed
A separate statement from France's Nuclear and Alternative Energy Commission added that the site of the explosion remains sealed and its ventilators were operating.
Centraco is located on the 300-hectare Marcoule site, which also houses a research center and four industrial sites, including one that makes Mox, a fuel made from plutonium and uranium.
The head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, said his organization's "incident and emergency center was immediately activated and has sent requests for detailed information."
France is the world's most nuclear-dependent country in the world, with the lion's share of its electricity coming from the 58 nuclear reactors that dot the country. France is also a major exporter of nuclear power.
The Nuclear Safety Authority said no radioactive leaks have been detected in the blast at 12:37pm local time at an oven in the Centraco nuclear site. The accident was under control within the hour, the agency said in a statement.
Centraco is located on the grounds of another nuclear site, Marcoule, in the Languedoc-Roussillon region near the Mediterranean Sea.
"According to initial information, the explosion happened in an oven used to melt radioactive metallic waste of little and very little radioactivity," the statement said. "There have been no leaks outside of the site."
Those injured were not contaminated with radiation, and the outside of the building that houses the oven showed no sign of damage or contamination either, the agency said in a separate statement.
Officials from France's EDF power company, whose subsidiary operates Centraco, stressed that there was no nuclear reactor on the site and that no waste treated at the site of the explosion came from a reactor. Spokeswoman Carole Trivi said a fire broke out after the blast, but it has since been controlled.
The cause of the blast was not immediately known, and an investigation has been opened, Trivi said.
The material at Centraco comes from nuclear sites and therefore is mildly radioactive, spokeswoman Carole Trivi said. She said the site treats mostly waste from EDF's own power plants, as well as a small amount of material from hospitals or medical research labs.
Nothing comes from weapons manufacture, she said.
Staff at the plant reacted to the accident according to planned procedures, the authority said in the statement. The local Midi Libre newspaper reported that no quarantine or evacuation measures had been immediately undertaken.
Blast site sealed
A separate statement from France's Nuclear and Alternative Energy Commission added that the site of the explosion remains sealed and its ventilators were operating.
Centraco is located on the 300-hectare Marcoule site, which also houses a research center and four industrial sites, including one that makes Mox, a fuel made from plutonium and uranium.
The head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, said his organization's "incident and emergency center was immediately activated and has sent requests for detailed information."
France is the world's most nuclear-dependent country in the world, with the lion's share of its electricity coming from the 58 nuclear reactors that dot the country. France is also a major exporter of nuclear power.
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