Nuclear Site Explosion Kills One In France

There has been an explosion at Marcoule’s nuclear plant near Orange, south of France. The explosion has killed at least one person and injured four more. The French nuclear safety authority claims there’s no risk of exterior radioactive leaks.

According to French authorities, the explosion happened in a radioactive waste dump dedicated to the reprocessing of nuclear fuel. The nuclear site is the home of Phénix, a fast-neutron breeder reactor used to create plutonium. After 2004, the reactor was used to transmute nuclear waste, generating some electricity in the process.

The site was under scrutiny in 2010 by the Autorité de sûreté nucléaire (French nuclear safety agency), citing “gaps in its safety culture”. [Europe1, ASN, LeFigaro and Wikipedia]