Explosion at French Nuclear Facility Kills One

Sept. 12, 2011 — -- An explosion at a nuclear facility in France has killed one person, injured at least three others but does not appear to have caused radiation to leak from the site, French officials said today.

The explosion occurred at a nuclear waste processing center in the Marcoule nuclear facility in southern France.

Officials at France's atomic energy commission told ABC News the explosion occurred in a furnace used to melt waste with low to very low radioactive levels. The blast was contained completely in the furnace.

France's government nuclear safety body, the ASN, released a statement hours after the explosion reporting that there did not appear to be any radioactive leak.

"This is an industrial accident, not a nuclear accident," said a spokesperson for the energy firm EDF, which operates the plant.

The Marcoule nuclear facility does not house any active nuclear reactors.

ABC News' Dimitrije Stejic contributed to this report.

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