French nuclear facility blast kills 1, injures 4

The authority and local police officials said there had been no radiation leak. The site, about 20 miles from Avignon, has no nuclear reactors, the authority said.

Olivier Isnard, an emergency manager at France's Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety, said the explosion took place in the foundry of the waste processing plant, which was melting down about 4 tons of used, mildly radioactive metal objects. The cause of the explosion was not yet known, he said, but he emphasised that the level of radiation - about 67,000 becquerels - contained in the molten metal was minor. The French Interior Ministry said the workers were not contaminated. The Nuclear Safety Authority said one of the four injured people was in serious condition.