Explosion at one of Frances oldest nuclear sites

[August]

Originally Posted by Krauter

Any news on the type of explosion? I read the article and see that the French authorities are denying any radioactive material got out, but so did the Soviets during Chernobyl and the Japanese during the initial stages of the Fukushima incident.

Not to defend the Russians or the Japanese but the talking head at the news conference podium rarely knows more than the reporters in the initial stages of an event like that.

The reporter asks something like "Is there any radiation leaking?"
The response is "So far we have not had any confirmed reports of radiation leakage"

That translates into "OMG they lied!" later on when the facts of the incident become clear.

[Respenus]

Besides the fact that the newest political scandal is more important to the French media than this accident, I do wish to point out that it was a processing plant and not a nuclear reactor. Disconcerting, yes, panic worthy, no. According to the TF1 report, an expert said during an interview that the only way an explosion like this could happen, is if cooling water was introduced into the heated oven.