Fire and leak shut down French reactor DIEPPE, France, April 6 (UPI) -- A French nuclear reactor shut down automatically after small fires broke out causing a joint to leak radioactive water in a reactor building, officials said. The French Nuclear Safety Authority said it was not clear what caused the fires Thursday evening at the Penly plant on the English Channel near Dieppe, Radio France Internationale reported. The company that operates the plant said the facility was secure, there were no injuries and there were "no consequences for the environment." However, Cecile Duflot of France's Green party characterized the incident as "very serious." "We are always being told: it's not serious, it's not serious, it is never serious," she said. I think, in the light of the information we have been given, that it is a very serious incident, but it is not a catastrophe. The world's most nuclear-dependent country, France operates 58 reactors providing 75 percent of the country's electricity and has been a leading international proponent of atomic energy. But the country's reliance on nuclear power been questioned since the Fukushima disaster in Japan and the future of the industry has become an issue in campaigns for the presidential election to be held in April and May, RFI reported.