An explosion and fire took place Thursday at a French nuclear power plant in the region of Normandie and according to the power utility company that operates the plant, no radiation was released.
The explosion was reported at an Electricite de France (EDF) nuclear power plant in Flamanville, north France.
"Flamanville 1, a fire was controlled in a non-nuclear zone," EDF said on its official Twitter account. "No casualties and no consequences for safety and the environment," the energy giant added.
Initial reports mentioned five people suffered from smoke inhalation but no radiation risk was reported, according to the local prefecture.
According to the EDF Flamanville's website, the incident took place at 9:45 am in the engine-room of reactor number 1, that has been in service since 1986.
The reactor was automatically shut down and switched off the national grid in accordance with safety protocols.
Flamanville also has a second working nuclear reactor on the site. A third model, an EPR water pressurised reactor, a third-generation design that is also being built in the United Kingdom, is currently under construction at Flamanville but is years behind schedule.
The prefect of La Manche, Jacques Witkowski declared the incident as "over."
Although the cause was not yet known, an overheated ventilation system in the engine room appeared to have caught fire and affected a transformer that exploded.
The transformer's electrical insulation provoked a fire that belched thick clouds of smoke, but there was no radiation risk involved, Witkowski said.
A technical inquiry will examine the causes of the incident, he said.
EDF also released a statement saying the fire "is under control."
According to EDF, Flamanville 3 "is due to go commercial in 2018," the company said in a statement. "It will be the first in the series of a new generation of nuclear reactors," it added.
However, the delayed project has been the target of protests by environmental groups in France and the UK.
Source: EFE
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