Information Madness

A furnace at a nuclear waste incinerator has exploded in Southern France killing one and injuring four people. This explosion was at a French nuclear facility. The oven that was used to melt radioactive waste has blown up causing a fire to break. So far, no radioactive leak has been detected.

The furnace is being operated by Electricite de France, SA. Nuclear experts in France were questioned extensively but they were swift to underplay the impact of the explosion at the facility. The safety record of this incinerator had earlier been questioned by the country’s safety regulator.

The French Industry Minister has affirmed that this is an industrial accident and not a nuclear one. It seems that currently there is no nuclear or chemical risk. The incinerator was burning rubber gloves and metal taps that are used in nuclear facilities. The fire has been extinguished and the building does not seem to be badly damaged. The radioactivity level at the site has been declared as `very low’.

This has happened just six months after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. The currencies have already fallen 7.5% on fears of another radioactive spill. This fire has brought back the discussions on the additional safety measures that the nuclear industry requires to start executing in the near future.

France’s nuclear safety regulator had issued a warning about five months back about security measures at the waste treatment site after it found the incinerator’s fire detectors failing to function properly.