9/12/2011 - Breaking: explosion at the Marcoule French Nuclear plant

News only in French for the moment, translation from French newspaper:

An explosion at the nuclear plant located at "Marcoule" in the Gard occurred this afternoon

The accident reportedly occurred following a fire in a storage site for radioactive waste. It would have caused an explosion that killed one person and severly injured three others, according to firefighters. The alarm was quickly given. A security area is in place around the nuclear plant.

More to come.... stay tuned.

Site L'Express

A furnace exploded with a risk of leak.


BBC starting to report now...
www.bbc.co.uk...

edit on 12-9-2011 by homeslice because: (no reason given)

It is a major site involved with the decommissioning of nuclear facilities, and operates a pressurised water reactor used to produce tritium.


www.rtl.be...

heres the google translation of the link above... 

'Leak risk after explosion at French nuclear plant'
Breaking news

There is a risk of a radioactive leak after a blast at the southern French nuclear plant of Marcoule, media reports say.

One person was killed and three were injured in the explosion, following a fire in a storage site for radioactive waste, Le Figaro newspaper said.

The plant is in the Gard region.

It is a major site involved with the decommissioning of nuclear facilities, and operates a pressurised water reactor used to produce tritium.

BBC

So Asia and Europe all have radiation leaks?

It's either highly coincidental or NOT that for 20+ years nuclear facilities ran mostly under the radar without much attention or concern (besides Chernobyl) and now - in a span of six months - we have had several huge incidents and major concerns. Funny how we were just now really pushing to get off of the oil habit with alternative energy...I have to wonder though, is it more of a result of our insatiable greed and the inevitable cost-cutting measures and human error that comes with putting profit before people?

This is seriously Bad

The "Furnace" that has exploded did the following with the worst type of nuclear fuel MOX!

The site is partly used by French nuclear giant Areva to produce MOX fuel which recycles plutonium from nuclear weapons. Part of the process involves firing superheated plutonium and uranium pellets in an oven.

Times NZ

So basically we have an explosion within a furnace that was firing superheated Plutonium and Uranium from nuclear weapons together! 


This is from the company AREVA who run the plant and what was going on here, this could be a massive disaster for europe I hope its under control asap,

parts of southern France the Med evacuated if not?

Industrial operator for the French Atomic Energy Commission
Concrete pouring for packages of solid wastes of CDS - Marcoule facility

AREVA is the CEA's (French Atomic Energy Commission) benchmark industrial partner on the Marcoule facility for the cleanup and disassembly of nuclear installations which have reached the end of their life cycle, as well as for the operation of nuclear and conventional installations.

AREVA, lead contractor for processing of the site

From 1958 to 1997, plant UP1 treated used fuels from the subsidiary UNGG (natural uranium - graphite - gas). It ceased operations on September 30, 1997. The redevelopment phase since launched constitutes a world first for a nuclear site of this size.

Some figures:

30 years of construction work,

1,000 locations to clean,

30,000 ton of waste to treat, 2% of which was highly active

Under the project leadership of CEA, AREVA Marcoule is the industrial operator for the cleanup of the treatment plant and its connected facilities. It performs operations including:

Cleaning and disassembly of the treatment plant and associated facilities, such as preparation workshops:
rinsing circuits using classic or specific chemical reagents,
Decontamination, shearing, and disassembly of equipment (pumps, filters, tanks, glove boxes...)
Recovery, sorting, and reconditioning of waste generated since the inception of the site as well as those produced by the cleanup operations, in accordance with applicable standards: oil drums, structural waste, fuel containers... These were then temporarily stored on-site or removed to a permanent storage facility.

Nuclear installation operator

AREVA also operates in Marcoule various nuclear industry installations, on behalf of the CEA for the:

Production of tritium.
Treatment of liquid waste and waste products.
Inspections and laboratory expertise in nuclear materials.
Dosimetry of personnel.
Decontamination of machines and tools.
Maintenance of transport containers for nuclear materials. 

Areva

I am sure they will be as open and honest as Tepco in telling us the truth so dont worry nothing to see just move on and breath in the invisible killer!

Edit to add already french stocks were under pressure and british ones re banking reforms and hideen losses on early trade.

On news of this explosion the french DAC is down 5%, this is really really bad news not fear mongering, Europe the world markets cant have a chernobyl/fukishima type event in central europe we would be in depression fully in about 2 weeks.

I feel CAC trading will be suspended, maybe even ftse and dow if it opens really down on this.... 

The furnace was recycling fuel and reproceesing it as MOX (mixed oxide fuel) This is a mixture of plutonium and uranium (mostly) and runs in reactors at a much higher temperature.

One dead in explosion at French nuclear plant; no radiation leak, ASN nuclear safety agency says - Reuters

www.breakingnews.com...

from West to East
if something came in the air , the wind is blowing it direction of Swiss, Poland, part of Italy, etc

more radioactivity unleashed into the world.


it's fine though, its the C02 you gotta look out for.