An explosions was reported today at the nuclear waste processing plant at the Marcoule nuclear site near Nimes in the south of France, The Guardian reports:
The site produces MOX fuel, which recycles plutonium from nuclear weapons, and is partly used by the French nuclear power company Areva. Part of the process involves firing superheated pellets of plutonium and uranium in an oven to reduce them in size to make them easier to store.
Local newspaper Midi Libre reported that one person had been killed and four others injured, including one seriously, in the explosion at 11.45am (10.45 BST). The papers said the body of one male worker at the plant had been "found carbonised", but it added that there was no evidence that the explosion had "caused any radioactive leak".
The site continues to be under close scrutiny.
