Abstracts ASN Report 2019

ڲ٫ת The fuel cycle ӄє ŅĴŁņňŅĴŁļĶ ĸĿĸŀĸŁŇņ ĴŅĸ ĶĻĸŀļĶĴĿ ĸĿĸŀĸŁŇņ ĻĸĴʼnļĸŅ ŇĻĴŁ ňŅĴŁļňŀ ҎĴŇłŀļĶ ŁňŀĵĸŅ ӌӅҏє Ļĸ ŀĴļŁ łŁĸņ ĴŅĸ ŁĸŃŇňŁļňŀ Ҏӌӆҏё ŃĿňŇłŁļňŀ ҎӌӇҏё ĴŀĸŅļĶļňŀׇҎӌӈҏё curium (96). In a reactor, they are derived from uranium during secondary reactions other than fission. 2. Storage is temporary, while disposal is final. The uranium ore is extracted, then purified and concentrated into ѢŌĸĿĿłŊ ĶĴľĸѣ łŁ ŇĻĸ ŀļŁļŁĺ ņļŇĸņє Ļĸ ņłĿļķ ĶłŁĶĸŁŇŅĴŇĸ ļņ ŇĻĸŁ ŇŅĴŁņĹłŅŀĸķ ļŁŇł ňŅĴŁļňŀ ĻĸŋĴĹĿňłŅļķĸ Ҏ 6 ) through a series of conversion operations. These operations are performed in the Orano Cycle plants in Malvési and Tricastin. These plants, which are regulated under the legislation for Installations Classified for Protection of the Environment (ICPE), use natural uranium ļŁ ŊĻļĶĻ ŇĻĸ ňŅĴŁļňŀіӅӆӈׇĶłŁŇĸŁŇ ļņ ĴŅłňŁķ ӃєӊՌє Most of the world’s NPPs use uranium which is slightly enriched ļŁ ňŅĴŁļňŀіӅӆӈє łŅ ĸŋĴŀŃĿĸё ŇĻĸ ŅĸņņňŅļņĸķ ĴŇĸŅ ĸĴĶŇłŅņ Ҏ ҏ ŅĸńňļŅĸ ňŅĴŁļňŀ ĸŁŅļĶĻĸķ ŊļŇĻ ŇĻĸ іӅӆӈׇļņłŇłŃĸє Ł ŅĴŁĶĸё ňŅĴŁļňŀ ĻĸŋĴĹĿňłŅļķĸ Ҏ 6 ) enrichment between 3% and 6% is carried out using an ultra-centrifuge process in the GB II plant at Tricastin. Ļļņ ĸŁŅļĶĻĸķ 6 ׇļņ ŇĻĸŁ ŇŅĴŁņĹłŅŀĸķ ļŁŇł ňŅĴŁļňŀ łŋļķĸ ŃłŊķĸŅ ļŁ ŇĻĸ ŅĴŀĴŇłŀĸ ŃĿĴŁŇ ļŁ łŀĴŁņіņňŅі ņŲŅĸє Ļĸ ĹňĸĿ ŃĸĿĿĸŇņ manufactured with this oxide are introduced into cladding to make fuel rods, which are then combined to form fuel assemblies. These assemblies are then placed in the reactor core where they ŅĸĿĸĴņĸ ĸŁĸŅĺŌё ŁłŇĴĵĿŌ ŇĻŅłňĺĻ ŇĻĸ ĹļņņļłŁ łĹ ňŅĴŁļňŀіӅӆӈׇŁňĶĿĸļє Before it is used in the reactors, new nuclear fuel can be stored in one of the two Inter-Regional fuel Stores (MIR) operated by ļŁ ňĺĸŌ ĴŁķ ĻļŁłŁє After a period of use of about three to four years, the spent fuel assemblies are removed from the reactor and cooled in a pool, firstly on the site of the plant in which they were used and then in the Orano Cycle reprocessing plant at La Hague. In this plant, the uranium and plutonium from the spent fuels are separated from the fission products and other transuranic elements (1) . The uranium and plutonium are packaged and then stored for subsequent re-use. However, at present, the uranium obtained from this reprocessing is no longer used to produce new fuels. The radioactive waste produced by these operations is disposed of in a surface repository if it is low-level waste, otherwise it is placed in storage pending a final disposal solution (2) . The plutonium resulting from the reprocessing of uranium oxide fuels is used in the Orano Cycle plant in Marcoule, called “Melox”, to fabricate MOX fuel (mixture of uranium and plutonium oxides) ŊĻļĶĻ ļņ ňņĸķ ļŁ ĶĸŅŇĴļŁ ӌӃӃ ĸ ŁňĶĿĸĴŅ ŃłŊĸŅ ŅĸĴĶŇłŅņ ļŁ ŅĴŁĶĸє Ļĸ ŁňĶĿĸĴŅ ĹňĸĿņ ĴŅĸ ŁłŇ ĶňŅŅĸŁŇĿŌ ŅĸŃŅłĶĸņņĸķ after being used in the reactors. Pending reprocessing or disposal, the spent MOX fuels are stored at the La Hague plant. The main material flows for the fuel cycle are presented in Table 1. Other facilities are needed for the operation of the Basic Nuclear Installations (BNI) mentioned above, more particularly the “Socatri” facility, which is responsible for the maintenance and decommissioning of nuclear equipment, as well as the treatment of nuclear and industrial effluents from the Orano Cycle platform in Tricastin. ׏ِ׏ Áǝƺ ǔȸȒȇɎ ٮ ƺȇƳ ǔɖƺǼ ƬɵƬǼƺ Before fuels are fabricated for use in the reactors, the uranium ore must undergo a number of chemical transformations, from the preparation of the “yellow cake” through to conversion into 6 , the form in which it is enriched. These operations take place primarily on the Orano Cycle sites of Malvési, in the Aude département and Tricastin in the Drôme and Vaucluse départements (also known as the Pierrelatte site). On the Tricastin site, Orano Cycle operates: ҄ ŇĻĸ łŀňŅĻĸŋ ĹĴĶļĿļŇŌ Ҏ ׇӄӃӈҏ ĹłŅ ĶłŁʼnĸŅŇļŁĺ ňŅĴŁļňŀ ŇĸŇŅĴĹĿňłŅļķĸ Ҏ 4 ҏ ļŁŇł 6 ; ҄ ŇĻĸ ĸłŅĺĸņ ĸņņĸ 6 ׇňĿŇŅĴіĶĸŁŇŅļĹňĺĸ ĸŁŅļĶĻŀĸŁŇ ŃĿĴŁŇ Ҏ ׇӄӉӋҏђ CHAPTER 11 The nuclear fuel cycle begins with the extraction of uranium ore and ends with packaging of the various radioactive wastes from the spent fuels so that they can be sent for disposal. In France, the last uraniummines were closed in 2000, so the fuel cycle concerns the fabrication of the fuel and then its reprocessing once it has been used in the nuclear reactors. The licensees of the fuel cycle plants are part of the Orano or EDF (Framatome) groups: Orano Cycle operates Melox in Marcoule, the La Hague plants, all the Tricastin plants ɀǣȇƬƺ ב ׏ (ژ ƺƬƺȅƫƺȸ א ׎׏ ז ً Əɀ ɯƺǼǼ Əɀ Ɏǝƺ Malvési facilities. Framatome operates the facilities on the Romans-sur-Isère site. ASN monitors the safety of these industrial facilities, which handle radioactive substances such as uranium or plutonium and constitute specific safety risks, notably radiological risks associated with toxic risks. ASN monitors the overall consistency of the industrial choices made with regard to fuel management and which could have consequences for safety. In this context, ASN periodically asks EDF to submit Ə !ٹ ɵƬǼƺ XȅȵƏƬɎ ٺڙ ǔǣǼƺ ȵȸƺȵƏȸƺƳ ǴȒǣȇɎǼɵ ɯǣɎǝ the fuel cycle stakeholders and presenting Ɏǝƺ ƬȒȇɀƺȷɖƺȇƬƺɀ ٫ǔȒȸ ƺƏƬǝ ɀɎƺȵ Ȓǔ Ɏǝƺ ȇɖƬǼƺƏȸ ǔɖƺǼ ƬɵƬǼƺ٫ Ȓǔ 0(I ټ ɀ ɀɎȸƏɎƺǕɵ ǔȒȸ ɖɀǣȇǕ the different types of fuel in its reactors. Nuclear fuel cycle installations 314 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2019