'No leak' after blast at French nuclear plant

By Hajer M’tiri

PARIS

EDF, the energy company which owns the Flamanville nuclear facility in France, said there were no casualties or fatalities in Thursday morning’s explosion at the plant.

Local media initially reported there were several injuries at the nuclear power plant in northwestern France.

French police later told reporters there was no risk of a nuclear leak from the EDF facility.

Thursday's fire erupted in a non-nuclear part of the plant and was quickly controlled, EDF said in a statement. The company added there were "no consequences for the safety of the installations or the environment".

At 9.40 a.m. local time (0840GMT), a fire followed a detonation in the plant’s Unit 1 engine room.

Firefighters and medical teams were sent to the site as per standard procedure.

The plant’s reactors were built in 1986 and 1987. A third reactor will be completed by 2018.