France: 100 workers contaminated at nuclear reactor

2008-07-24 17:36:03 [ Big Normal Small ]    　Comment

BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Radioactive particles escaped from a pipe Wednesday at a French nuclear reactor and slightly contaminated 100 workers, said a spokesman for the national electric company.

It was the fourth incident at a French nuclear site in recent weeks and the second in five days.

Caroline Muller, a spokeswoman for Electricite de France, said 100 EDF employees were "slightly contaminated" by radioactive particles at a reactor complex in Tricastin, in southern France.

The incident occurred in reactor No. 4 at the facility, which had been shut down for refueling, she said.

The employees went home but will be tested, she said, insisting that the contamination was slight — a dose smaller than 1/40th of the regulation limit.

"What concerns us is less the level of the people contaminated than the number of people contaminated," Muller said by telephone.

Experts were studying what led to the incident, she said.

France is the most nuclear-dependent country in the world, with 59 reactors churning out nearly 80 percent of its electricity. The incidents have prompted questions about the state-run nuclear industry, at a time when eyes are turning to nuclear energy because of the soaring price of oil.

(Agencies)

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