Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

Fitted with an automated regulation system and continuously operated without supervision since 8 February, 1991, an overheated water boiler (19.2 MW, 160°C, 11 bar) exploded during a manual control phase upon attempting to transition to a boiler with less capacity. The accident was caused by gas accumulation inside the firebox following the untimely opening of 2 solenoid valves in series, responsible for controlling the burner feed line. An electrical short tied to a previous cabling configuration, retained unexpectedly when installing the automated control system, wound up triggering a control relay switch common to both valves. No victims were reported; property damage, though significant, remained confined to the unit in question.