There is a risk of a radioactive leak after an explosion in an oven Monday at the Marcoule nuclear site near the city of Nimes in the south of France, emergency services said.
A partial view of the nuclear plant in Marcoule near Nimes taken on October 20, 2003. Photo: AFP
The blast hit the Centraco nuclear waste treatment centre belonging to the Socodei subsidiary of national electricity provider EDF, said a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Commissariat (CEA).
"For the time being nothing has made it outside," the spokesman said, asking not to be named.
A security perimeter has been set up around the installation, firefighters said, without being able to provide further details.
According to Reuters, the blast killed one person and injured four others.