Blast rocks France nuclear waste site, officials say

NUEVA YORK, 12 SEPTEMBER 2011.- The Latin Post.-
1 killed, 4 injured after furnace explodes; no leak of radioactive material, officials say
A furnace exploded at the Marcoule nuclear waste treatment site in southern France on Monday, killing one person, but there was no leak of radioactive material outside the furnace, France's ASN nuclear safety watchdog said


Four other people were injured, one seriously, in the blast at the Centraco site, owned by French power utility EDF and adjacent to the Marcoule nuclear research center. The site does not house any nuclear reactors.


The furnace that exploded is used to melt waste with levels of radioactivity ranging from low to very high, ASN said.


It did not immediately give a reason for the blast but said it was completely contained within the furnace. Staff at the plant reacted to the accident according to planned procedures, the watchdog said.


Police also said there was no contamination outside the site, which is about 18 miles from the city of Avignon and about 50 miles from the Mediterranean coast.


In Vienna, an official at the IAEA, who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on record, said the agency was in contact with French authorities "trying to learn more about the nature of the explosion."
France — the world's most nuclear-reliant country — is carrying out stress tests on its 58 nuclear reactors in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster in Japan.