(Reuters) - A contained radioactive water leak detected at EDF's Flamanville nuclear plant did not cause any damage to the environment or harm any employees, France's nuclear safety watchdog ASN and EDF said on Thursday.
The nuclear safety agency said on its website EDF had detected a leak in a water pipe that feeds the plant's reactor 1 primary circuit late on Wednesday. It was stopped and did not cause any radioactive contamination.
The incident was defined as a grade 1 incident on the international nuclear event scale (INES), where the maximum 7 is the most severe.
There were 66 Level 1 incidents in 2011 in France according to the ASN.
The 1,300 MW reactor 1 has been stopped for maintenance and refueling since July 26 and was in the last stages of the restarting process when the leak occurred.