There has been an explosion at a nuclear power plant in France. The explosion happened this morning [9 Feb] in the plant's engine room, officials are saying there is no risk of nuclear contamination. One of two reactors was shut down as a result of the incident.
The plant is situated in Flamanville, near Cherbourg on the Contentin peninsula in north-west France.
Power Engineering International reports
The incident has been reported by local media, Ouest-France newspaper and M6 Radio station. These sources claim five people have suffered minor injuries as a result of the explosion.
A government official says there is no nuclear risk, and at midday EDF spokesperson Laurence Ollier confirmed, "At 9.40[1] this morning, a fire resulting in a minor explosion broke out in the turbine hall on the non-nuclear part of unit 1 at the Flamanville nuclear power plant."
"The fire was immediately brought under control by the plant's response team. As per normal procedure, the fire brigade went to the affected location and confirmed that the fire had been extinguished."
[...] "It is a significant technical event but it is not a nuclear accident" because the explosion occurred "outside the nuclear zone", said Olivier Marmion, director of the state prefect's office.
The area of the incident has variously been called a turbine hall, an engine room, and a mechanical room. It has further been described as a long structure, separated from the nuclear portion of the facility.
(Score: 3, Funny) by maxwell demon on Saturday February 11 2017, @12:42PM
But those plants also were indirect nuclear power plants: They acted on stored power originally released in nuclear reactions in the sun. So this is only more proof that nuclear power is dangerous! ;-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Informative) by PiMuNu on Saturday February 11 2017, @01:12PM
Don't forget, coal plants release more dose than nuclear
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste/ [scientificamerican.com]
http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/1018/do-coal-plants-release-more-radiation-than-nuclear-power-plants [stackexchange.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 11 2017, @07:53PM
...and solar installations, wind turbines, and electricity generators driven by geothermal or tidal energy all produce ZERO emissions.
...and, of new energy installations built in recent years, renewables have been the vast majority.
The jobs in renewables now represent multiples of what the jobs that polluting energy sources do.
Mentioning coal these days is A RED HERRING.
It demonstrates that you know you've lost the argument and are trying to distract attention away from the most expensive way ever devised to boil water, which also has the potential for its own special brand of danger.
...as well as having had incidents which actually demonstrated that danger.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]