France’s Tricastin Nuclear Facility Experiences Uranium Leak

If you are one of the many people who believe that accidents at nuclear facilities are a thing of the past, think again. A friend passed along some information that France’s Tricastin nuclear facility has been temporarily closed after approximately 30 cubic meters (75 kilograms) of liquid containing unenriched uranium spilled from an overflowing reservoir. The liquid seeped into the ground and also reached the Gaffiere and Lauzon rivers.

The Tricastin facility, which is operated by Areva/Socatri, is located at Bollene in the south of France, 40 km from the tourist city Avignon. Tricastin has both nuclear reactors and a radioactive waste treatment plant.

The leak occurred Monday night, but people in the affected areas were not told about the problem until 10:00 AM Tuesday. Sounds eerily like Chernobyl, doesn’t it?

People in nearby towns have been warned not to drink water or eat fish caught in the rivers since Monday. The have also been told not to swim in the rivers or use their water to irrigate crops.

On Wednesday, Socatri carried out tests on the groundwater, three local wells and the rivers and found “no abnormal elements.” French Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo has said there is no imminent danger to the local population.

Tricastin has been temporarily shut down because the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) inspected the facility on Thursday and found that existing prevention measures were deficient. The inspection found that “security steps aimed at preventing any further pollution were not completely satisfactory. Further, inspectors found “irregularities” at the site’s operations at the time of the accident.

This uranium leak may not pose a great risk to the public, but is a strong reminder that nuclear power is not as safe as people think. The scariest thing may be the inspectors finding deficiencies in plant safety three days after the accident. You’d think that plant administrators would have scrambled to make sure safety measures were in place immediately after the accident, if for no other reason than to cover their own butts.