Steam injures two at Fessenheim
05 September 2012
FIRST PUBLISHED: 4.51pm GMT, 5 September
UPDATE 1: 11.15am GMT, 6 September: Information from ASN and EDF
Steam produced by a chemical accident has scalded two workers at France's Fessenheim nuclear power plant.
Although initially reported as a fire, the event at Fessenheim is understood by World Nuclear News to result from hydrogen peroxide making contact with oxygenated water while chemistry department staff were preparing to neutralise hydrazine in a liquid waste storage tank. The cloud of steam that suddenly resulted scalded the hands of two workers through their protective clothing and triggered fire alarms. The workers were checked by medical staff and returned to work. Seven other people in the vicinity were unaffected.
The Fessenheim nuclear power plant is located in France's eastern region of Alsace, on the German border. It comprises two pressurized water reactors of 880 MWe each.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News