09/12/2011 08:26 am ET Updated Nov 12, 2011

France Nuclear Site Explosion: Marcoule Waste Site Rocked By Blast

By JENNY BARCHFIELD, Associated Press

PARIS -- A nuclear waste site in southern France had an explosion Monday that killed one person, seriously burned another and slightly injured three others, France's nuclear safety body said.







The material at Centraco comes from nuclear sites and therefore is mildly radioactive, spokeswoman Carole Trivi said. She said the site treats mostly waste from EDF's own power plants, as well as a small amount of material from hospitals or medical research labs.

Nothing comes from weapons manufacture, she said.


A separate statement from France's Nuclear and Alternative Energy Commissions added that the site of the explosion remains sealed and its ventilators were operating.



France is the world's most nuclear-dependent country in the world, with the lion's share of its electricity coming from the 58 nuclear reactors that dot the country. France is also a major exporter of nuclear power, treats nuclear waste from around the world, and state-owned nuclear giant Areva is one of the country's most prominent companies.

The kind of soul-searching about using nuclear power that swept the world following Japan's March 11 tsunami and the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant have been largely absent in France, which has stuck firmly to its pro-nuclear policy.

In June, President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged that France will stick to a plan to invest euro1 billion ($1.37 billion) in future nuclear reactors.

By contrast, neighboring Germany took eight of its older reactors off the grid in the wake of the Japanese disaster and lawmakers have voted to shut the country's nine remaining nuclear plants by 2022.

Still, French environmentalists have long called for the end to the country's nuclear program, and the Europe Ecology-Greens party urged transparency in responding to Monday's accident.


Associated Press writers Sarah DiLorenzo and Cecile Brisson in Paris contributed to this report.