Worker dies in blast at French nuclear site

12/09/2011

By Dr. Heather Johnstone
Chief Editor

A furnace used to treat low grade nuclear waste has exploded at a nuclear site in southern France, killing one person and injuring four others, reported the Financial Times.

No radioactive leaks followed the explosion at 11.45am on 12 September 2011 at the waste treatment site at Marcoule run by EDF, said France’s Nuclear Safety Authority. But a secure zone had been set up around the nuclear site, according to French media reports.

The explosion took place in a furnace used to melt “low to very low grade” metallic waste, said a spokesman for the safety authority. “The furnace exploded for technical reasons and it was not nuclear,” he said. “We are not worried about the consequences.”

A fire sparked by the explosion had been brought under control by early afternoon, an EDF spokesperson told AFP news agency.

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