* See glossary page 30 Installation: the UP2-400 plant consists of four BNIs* operated on the La Hague site (Manche département). The installations were intended for reprocessing of certain reactor fuels (those from the GCR reactors for example – BNI 33), the treatment of effluents and the storage of waste and residues from the activities of the various units (BNI 38), the manufacture of sealed radioactive sources* (BNI 47) or the reprocessing of light water reactor fuels (BNI 80). The units, consisting of cells, silos and pools, contain large quantities of waste and residues from the activities of UP2-400: sludges and resins, equipment (mixers-decanters, vessel, etc.), residues of chemical products used to process waste, etc. Licensee: Orano Commissioned: 1964 (except for BNI 47 and BNI 80, which were commissioned in 1970 and 1974 respectively) Final shutdown: 2004 (1973 for BNI 47) UP2-400 La Hague Decommissioning phases n For BNI 33, the decommissioning operations in the main units consist in dismantling numerous rooms, as well as the numerous shielded cells, vessels, pipes, gloveboxes, used in the process. The retrieval and conditioning of ion exchange resins used to filter the spent fuel pool water also need to be completed. n For BNI 80, the decommissioning operations consist primarily in collecting the waste stored in the pool and in a silo, by means of a special shielded cell, which will be commissioned in a few years. The fuel stored in the pools of the HAO/Nord unit has been removed. n For BNI 47, the decommissioning operations consist in completing the removal of the last process equipment, followed by the clean-out operations. n For BNI 38, the current decommissioning operations are focusing on the retrieval and removal of legacy radioactive waste, notably solid waste and sludges stored loose in silos. Decommissioning challenges Taken together, the four BNIs* constitute an industrial complex housing about ten main units, thousands of rooms each containing numerous items of process equipment (shielded cells, silos, vessels, gloveboxes, pools, etc.) in which highly radioactive and chemical substances were handled. The WRC* operations are a preliminary to the decommissioning and clean-out operations and will span several decades. They require the performance of additional work to characterise the waste, implement new equipment based on remote-operated systems, and to develop specific retrieval and conditioning processes, some of which are still at the design stage. 18 • Les cahiers de l’ASN • June 2022 BNIs BEING DECOMMISSIONED
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