One person killed in furnace explosion

The blast, which took place today in a furnace at the Centraco site 30km from Avignon and 80km from the Mediterranean coast, also injured four people one of whom is in a critical condition.

The furnace is owned by French power utility EDF and is used to melt various levels of radioactive waste. Although France’s nuclear safety authority ASN (Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire) did not give an immediate reason for the blast, they have said it was completely contained within the furnace.

Police reports have confirmed that there is no contamination outside of the site.

As the world’s most nuclear-reliant country, France is carrying out stress tests on its 58 nuclear reactors in the aftermath of the Japanese nuclear accident at Fukushima in March 2011 that followed the tsunami.

Louise Kirby