There are accidents and incidents, and cover-ups in France. The majority of the incidents with nuclear power and material are, however, not directly linked to power generation. An incident happening not that long ago not that far away from where I live, happened in the research plant, associated with a power plant, and was essentially a (tragic) work accident. Only a minimal amount of radioactivity got out.

One thing to keep in mind is that the French power plant reactors are of the Pressurized Water type (as opposed to the Boiling Water types, having been installed in Fukushima Dai-ichi, for example). With Pressure Water types, the contaminated water does not need leave the containment, as the energy is passed to a non-contaminated water/steam circuit driving the turbines using a heat exchanger.

And, according to the very interesting overview at the Power Reactor Information System of website of the IAEA, France has several reactors in permanent shutdown.