The Atlas facility –BNI 176 The purpose of the Atlas facility is: ∙ to carry out industrial physico-chemical and radio-chemical analyses; ∙ to monitor liquid and atmospheric discharges and monitor the environment of the Tricastin facilities. The Atlas facility meets the most recent safety requirements and was commissioned in 2017. The Tricastin uranium storage facility –BNI 178 Following the delicensing of part of the Pierrelatte DBNI by decision of the Prime Minister, BNI 178 –or the Tricastin uranium storage facility– was created. This facility groups the uranium storage facilities and the platform’s new emergency management premises. ASN registered this facility in December 2016. The P35 facility –BNI 179 Following on from the delicensing process for the Pierrelatte DBNI by decision of the Prime Minister, BNI 179, known as “P35” was created. This facility comprises ten uranium storage buildings. ASN registered this facility in January 2018. The IARU facility (formerly Socatri) –BNI 138 The facility primarily carries out repair, decontamination and dismantling of industrial or nuclear equipment, radioactive and industrial liquid effluent treatment and reprocessing and conditioning of radioactive waste. 1.2 Fuel fabrication The fabrication of fuel for electricity generating reactors involves the transformation of UF6 into uranium oxide powder. The pellets fabricated from this powder in the Framatome “FBFC” plant in Romans-sur-Isère are placed in zirconium metal cladding to constitute the fuel rods, which are then grouped together to form the fuel assemblies. The fuels used in the experimental reactors are more varied and, for example, some of them use highly-enriched uranium in metal form. These fuels are fabricated in the Framatome plant at Romans-sur-Isère usually called “Cerca”. The FBFC and Cerca plants were combined in a single BNI (63‑U), by a Decree of 23 December 2021. The MOX fuel is fabricated in BNI 151 –Melox– operated by Orano and located on the Marcoule nuclear site. 1.3 The “fuel cycle” back-end –reprocessing The Orano reprocessing plants in operation at La Hague The La Hague plants, intended for reprocessing of spent fuel assemblies from nuclear reactors, are operated by Orano. The various facilities of the UP3-A (BNI 116) and UP2-800 (BNI 117) plants and of the STE3 (BNI 118) Effluent Treatment Station were commissioned from 1986 (reception and storage of spent fuel assemblies) to 2002 (R4 plutonium reprocessing facility), with most of the process facilities entering service in 1989-1990. The Decrees of 10 January 2003 set the individual reprocessing capacity of each of the two plants at 1,000 tonnes per year (t/year), in terms of the quantities of uranium and plutonium contained in the fuel assemblies before burn-up (in the reactor), and limit the total capacity of the two plants to 1,700 t/year. The limits and conditions for discharges and water intake by the site are defined by two ASN resolutions of 22 December 2015 (resolution 2015‑DC-0535 and resolution 2015-DC-0536), currently undergoing revision. Operations carried out in the plants The reprocessing plants comprise several industrial units, each of which performs a specific operation. Consequently there are facilities for the reception and storage of spent fuel assemblies, for their shearing and dissolution, for the chemical separation of fission products, uranium and plutonium, for the purification of uranium and plutonium, for treating the effluents and for packaging the waste. When the spent fuel assemblies arrive at the plants in their transport casks, they are unloaded either “under water” in the spent fuel pool, or dry in a leaktight shielded cell. The fuel assemblies are then stored in pools for cooling. The fuel assemblies are then sheared and dissolved in nitric acid to separate the pieces of metal cladding from the spent nuclear fuel. The pieces of cladding, which are insoluble in nitric acid, are removed from the dissolver, rinsed in acid and then water, and transferred to a compacting and packaging unit. The nitric acid solution comprising the dissolved radioactive substances is then processed, in order to extract the uranium and plutonium and leave the fission products and other transuranic elements. After purification, the uranium is concentrated and stored as uranyl nitrate UO2(NO3)2. It will then be converted into a solid compound (U3O8) called “reprocessed uranium” in the TU5 facility on the Tricastin site. After purification and concentration, the plutonium is precipitated by oxalic acid, dried, calcined into plutonium oxide, packaged in sealed containers and stored. It is then intended for the fabrication of MOX fuels in the Orano plant, in Marcoule (Melox). The effluents and waste produced by the operation of the plants The fission products and other transuranic elements resulting from reprocessing are concentrated, vitrified and packaged in standard vitrified waste packages (CSD-V). The pieces of assembly cladding are compacted and packaged in standard compacted waste packages (CSD-C). These reprocessing operations also use chemical and mechanical processes, the operation of which generates gaseous and liquid effluents as well as solid waste. Tricastin site Philippe Coste plant GB II TU5 and W formerly Socatri Tricastin uranium storage areas P35 Atlas Romans-sur-Isère facility FBFC Cerca Malvési site formerly Comurhex Marcoule site Melox La Hague facility UP3 UP2-800 STE3 THE “FUEL CYCLE” FACILITIES IN SERVICE ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2021 315 11 – “NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE” INSTALLATIONS 08 07 13 04 10 06 12 14 03 09 05 11 02 AP 01
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