The firefighters of Aude intervened at the end of the morning, in Narbonne, following the detonation of a drum of metal oxides of 200 liters, stored in a closed room of the nuclear site of Orano Malvesi, ex-Areva . The fire was quickly brought under control. There are 3 minor injuries.
The staff in place intervened very quickly and extinguished the fire with sand.
The barrel at the origin of the incident is a full container, dating from the 90s, and stored in this closed place since.
As the risk was quickly brought under control, the activation of the PPI (specific intervention plan) and the POI (operational intervention plan) was not necessary.
The 2 people working nearby were slightly injured, as well as a third person, who came to their aid. They were evacuated to the Narbonne hospital center for observation.
The analyzes carried out on the people who were near and around the barrel adapted to contain weakly nuclear materials showed no trace of contamination.
As a precaution, a safety perimeter of 50 meters has been set up by the firefighters.
metal oxides
Metal oxides are materials composed of oxide anions and metal cations. Very often, these are raw ores, therefore in their natural form.
We know that the Narbonne site stores uranium ore to refine it, with a view to making nuclear fuel enriched at the Tricastin plant.
Malvési processes between 12,000 and 15,000 tonnes of natural uranium per year. But at the moment, the Aude site factory is shut down.
A government investigation
The sub-prefect of Narbonne quickly went to the site to ensure compliance with security measures. The prefect asked, in close liaison with the public prosecutor’s office, that a labor inspection investigation be carried out as soon as possible in order to verify the working conditions of the employees who were concerned. It also asked the DREAL to verify compliance with the regulatory requirements established within the framework of the classified installation.
