· ·

Deadly explosion on atomic site in France – Radiation leak risk is a possibility

deadly-explosion-on-atomic-site-in-france-radiation-leak-risk-is-a-possibility

French media reports on Monday morning (local time) that an explosion has occurred in Central Nuclear Processing and Packaging Centraco centre in Marcoule in French department Gar and there is a threat of radiation leakage. One person died and three wounded in explosion. Fire started in the storage. The enterprise capacity is 5.000 tons of nuclear waste annually.

After catastrophic disaster succeeded by disaster at Fukushima APS German government made a decision on curtail of nuclear energetics. France, European leader on the number of APSs has refused such measures motivating the decision by full safety of its nuclear program.

September 12th 2011:

Update at 7:57 a.m. ET: The BBC quotes Le Figaro newspaper as saying one person was killed and three injured in the explosion following a fire in a storage site for radioactive waste. The death told was reported by France 3.

The BBC also quotes media as saying there is a risk of a radioactive leak from the accident, which occurred in France’s Gard region.

The BBC says the site is involved with the decommissioning of nuclear facilities, and operates a pressurized water reactor used to produce tritium.

Update at 8:10 a.m. ET: The Associated Press quotes Evangelia Petit of the Agency for Nuclear Safety as confirming the explosion but declining to provide further details. Officials in the Gard region also confirmed Monday’s explosion but also said they could not give any more information.

The Marcoule site is located in Langedoc Roussillon, in southern France, near the Mediterranean Sea. It is also near the city of Nimes. Herald Sun

Radiation leak risk after deadly French nuclear plant blast

There is a risk of a radioactive leak after an explosion killed at least one person and injured four others at the Marcoule nuclear site in the south of France, the state regulator said.

National electricity provider EDF confirmed the initial death toll following the explosion in an oven at the site in the Rhone Valley near the southern city of Nimes.

One of the injured is in a serious condition, France’s Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) said.

The blast hit the Centraco nuclear waste treatment centre belonging to EDF subsidiary Socodei, said a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Commissariat (CEA).

The site is around 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of the historic city of Avignon which is thronged with tourists at this time of the year.

“For the time being nothing has made it outside,” a CEA spokesman said, asking not to be named.

A security perimeter has been set up around the installation, firefighters said, without being able to provide further details. Expatica.com

 

Media speculations

The media is speculating if there is any truth in claims of radiation leakage risk but like we learned from Fukushima disaster we might never know what actually happened and what is the actual risk. We shall see what comes out of it. For those of you in France, send us updates please via contact form or comment.

Share:

Commenting rules and guidelines

We value the thoughts and opinions of our readers and welcome healthy discussions on our website. In order to maintain a respectful and positive community, we ask that all commenters follow these rules:

  • Treat others with kindness and respect.
  • Stay on topic and contribute to the conversation in a meaningful way.
  • Do not use abusive or hateful language.
  • Do not spam or promote unrelated products or services.
  • Do not post any personal information or content that is illegal, obscene, or otherwise inappropriate.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these rules. By commenting on our website, you agree to abide by these guidelines. Thank you for helping to create a positive and welcoming environment for all.

8 Comments

    1. I understand the feeling, the NEWS far to quickly switches to other events and leaves those that do have an interest in the story, gasping for information.

      It is my own belief that in time, Fukushima will prove to be the gravest nuclear incident we have yet to face.

      Arnie Gundersen is worth a listen to, and you will find many videos from him online on his updates on Fukushima.

      15.09.2011 — 0.16mSv range 0.14mSv to 0.20mSv.

  1. Same reading today, 0.16mSv with a fluctuation from 0.14mSv to 0.19mSv.

    Perfectly normal readings if not slightly high, but that is more due to the on going Fukushima situation.

  2. I live not far from the site, in a town called St Chinian. I also have a Geiger counter and at the moment as of 19:19 on the 12.09.2011 is reading 0.16mSv. This is the average reading I have been taking for the last 40 days. I will keep you updated to any changes.

    1. Thank you for your info Grayando and for your willingness to keep us updated! Hope you never get anything higher than the average readings. The internet has gone wild today about this and we really need your info.

    2. Grayando,

      Thank you so much for your citizen monitoring of the radiation levels near the site. Your reports are invaluable; in my opinion, this monitoriing is the only way we are going to get reliable information about radiation levels in order to protect humans and other living beings. Please continue to post your readings, and any other local info you have. I am currently in northern France, and have been planning to head down to Marseille and points east in about a week, so your info is also very useful personally to me and my travelling companions.

      1. Ruby.

        There is an independent French body that was created after Chernobyl in order to monitor radiation levels across France and Europe in light of the false reports given to the public by officials at the time. I would recommend you checkout their website as the information they have there is more than I can do with just daily updates from my location.

        All the same, thank you for your kind words. : )

        Todays reading is the same as yesterdays. 0.16mSv average.

        http://www.criirad.org/

Leave a Reply to Ruby Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *