On February 9, an explosion occurred at the Flamanville Nuclear Plant, followed by a fire. Officials confirmed that the explosion did not cause a radiation leak. A spokesman for EDF Energy indicated that the incident did not occur in the nuclear part of unit one, and that the fire was put out promptly.
Though it seems that the risk of a radiation leak is minimal as a result of this incident, this should not be considered a minor incident. Some consider any accident to be an indicator of greater risk. Neil Hyatt, professor of radioactive waste management at the University of Sheffield appears to agree with these safety advocates, and said that the incident was very serious, even without a leak.
International and international regulators will want to undertake a thorough investigation to understand the cause and lessons to be learned.
Neil Hyatt
Even a small incident may indicate a problem in the system. This is why it is critical to investigate the incident thoroughly. The system may need to be updated to prevent future occurrences of explosion or fire. The lessons learned need to be distributed throughout the organization to prevent related incidents. The lessons learned may also be useful to train other nuclear power plant, or even organizations in different industries, how to increase mindfulness and improve safety.