One person was killed and four injured Monday following an explosion at a nuclear waste treatment facility owned by power giant Electricite de France SA in Southern France.
One person was killed and four injured Monday following an explosion at
a nuclear waste treatment facility owned by power giant Electricite de France
SA in
Southern France
.
Local officials said the blast took place late morning at a nuclear waste
treatment incinerator next to the Marcoule atomic research center. An oven used
to melt low-level radioactive waste exploded causing a fire to break out,
according to the French nuclear safety agency.
EDF confirmed the explosion at the incinerator, which doesn't generate
electricity, but said there were no radioactive or chemical leaks as a result. Nuclear
experts in
France
were
quick to play down the impact of the fire at the waste treatment facility.
"There is no chemical or nuclear risk as we speak," said a
spokeswoman for French Industry Minister Eric Besson. "It's an industrial
accident, not a nuclear accident."
The incinerator burns low-level radioactive waste, such as rubber gloves and
metal taps, used in nuclear facilities, said Olivier Isnard, an emergency
management expert at the French Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear
Safety. The fire was soon put out and the building housing the incinerator
wasn't badly damaged, he said. As a result, the radioactivity level at the site
is likely to be "very very low," said Mr. Isnard.
Socodei, the company that runs the incinerator, is a fully-owned subsidiary of
EDF. Socodei didn't respond to calls seeking comment.
Coming just six months after the
Fukushima
nuclear disaster in
Japan
, the
explosion caused EDF's share price to plummet 7.5% on fears of another
radioactive spill, before recovering to trade down 2.6%. The fire also revived
debate surrounding the additional safety measures that the nuclear industry
needs to put in place in the coming months.
"Clearly nuclear safety is increasingly becoming a key issue for utilities
and incidents like that could have an effect on policies and investment
requirements," said a London-based analyst who spoke on the condition of
anonymity.
Anti-nuclear campaigner Greenpeace questioned why the incinerator wasn't
included in the safety stress tests that are currently being carried out at
nuclear power plants across the country. "It shows once again that
France
has
not learnt any lessons from
Fukushima
,"
said a spokesman at Greenpeace.
In 2011
France
's
nuclear safety regulator issued a warning over safety measures at the waste
treatment site and said the incinerator's fire detectors failed to function
correctly.
The 700-strong population of Codolet, the village where the waste treatment
plant is located, wasn't evacuated, EDF and local officials said. One of the
four wounded was seriously injured, the nuclear safety agency said.
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