Seven injured in Netherlands power plant incident
14 September 2012
On September 12 a series of explosions at the Nuon gas-fired power plant in Velsen Noord, 30km west of Amsterdam, injured seven, at least one seriously. There was a small fire at the installation, but it was quickly extinguished. Police and safety officials were allowed into the complex later to determine the cause.
According to Nuon, the first explosion was followed by a number of smaller blasts, may have been caused when a high voltage sub-station was closed down ahead of painting work.
The gas-powered generator, which is near a residential area, was not in use at the time of the incident because it is only used when more capacity is needed, ANP said.
Nuon, which is owned by Sweden's Vattenfall, has two plants on the site. The larger 460MW unit was the one affected by the blast, while the second, which is still operational, has a capacity of 360 MW.