Following the explosion of nitrocellulose in an explosives production plant in Bergerac (Dordogne), in the early afternoon of Wednesday August 3, it should not “not to have too much impact outside the site”, emphasizes Christian Sommade. The general delegate of the French High Committee for National Resilience, a think thank reflecting on issues of crisis management in the event of major threats, is invited by franceinfo. The explosion injured eight people, one of them seriously, the fire caused was quickly brought under control by the sixty firefighters who arrived on the spot.
franceinfo: Is there a danger of pollution linked to this explosion?
Christian Somade: It would be a question of knowing all the products that there are in this plant, but as a general rule those used in a blowing mill are less toxic than those used in a chlorine or ammonia plant. The risk is more related to the explosion itself than to the pollution it could release, which is not of the same nature as that released at Lubrizol in Rouen in 2019 for example.
This factory is classified as a “high” Seveso risk, what does that mean in terms of safety?
All high-threshold Seveso sites are subject to fairly strict legislation in terms of storage, and blowing snow even more so. In particular, there is a material removal policy that must be respected. Normally, when the legislation is respected, accidents are prevented and especially accident cascades. The legislation also aims to reduce the consequences of accidents, in particular by moving homes away from the site.
“If the standards have been met, the impacts should be limited to personnel and there should be none off site.”
Christian SomadeGeneral Delegate of the French High Committee for National Resilience
Have we drawn the conclusions from Lubrizol in 2019 and AZF 20 years ago?
The standards haven’t changed much, but the controls have. There was a relaxation before Lubrizol because we had made savings on the control bodies. The accident prompted the state to do more.
But in any case, the industrial risk can only be reduced and zero risk does not exist. The worries are most often linked to human fault unfortunately. I think that this accident will lead the State to further increase its vigilance on these classified installations, especially when they are located close to dwellings like here.