Cleanup of Nuclear Licensed Facility 57
- Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique, Direction de l'Energie Nucleaire, Direction deleguee des Activites Nucleaires de Saclay, Departement des Reacteurs et des Services Nucleaires, Service d'Assainissement de Fontenay Aux Roses: 18, route du Panorama, BP6, 92265 Fontenay aux Roses Cedex (France)
This summary describes the operations to clean up the equipment of the Nuclear Licensed Facility 57 (NLF 57). Due to the diversity of the research and development work carried out on the reprocessing of spent fuel in it, this installation is emblematic of many of the technical and organizational issues liable to be encountered in the final closure of nuclear facilities. The French atomic energy commission's center at Fontenay aux Roses (CEA-FAR) was created in 1946 to house pile ZOE. Laboratories for fuel cycle research were installed in existing buildings at the site. Work was later concentrated on spent fuel reprocessing, in a pilot workshop referred to as the 'Usine Pu'. In the early sixties, after the dismantling of these first generation facilities, a radiochemistry laboratory dedicated to research and development work on reprocessing was constructed, designated Building 18. During the same decade, more buildings were added: Building 54, storehouses and offices, Building 91, a hall and laboratories for chemical engineering research on natural and depleted uranium. Together, these three building constitute NLF 57. Building 18 architecture featured four similar modules. Each module had three levels: a sub-level consisting of technical galleries and rooms for the liquid effluent tanks, a ground floor and roof space in which the ventilation was installed. Offices, change rooms, four laboratories and a hall were situated on the ground floor. The shielded lines were installed in the laboratories and the halls. Construction of the building took place between 1959 and 1962, and its commissioning began in 1961. The research and development programs performed in NLF 57 related to studies of the reprocessing of spent fuel, including dry methods and the Purex process, techniques for the treatment of waste (vitrification, alpha waste decontamination, etc.) as well as studies and production of transuranic elements for industry and research. In addition to this work, the necessary methods of analysis for monitoring it were also developed. The research and development program finally ended on 30 June 1995. The NLF 57 cleanup program was intended to reduce the nuclear and conventional hazards and minimize the quantities of HLW and MLW during the subsequent dismantling work. To facilitate the organization of the cleanup work, it was divided into categories by type: - treatment and removal of nuclear material, - removal of radioactive sources, - treatment and removal of aqueous liquid waste, - treatment and removal of organic effluents, - treatment and removal of solid waste, - pumping out of the PETRUS tank, - flushing and decontamination of the tanks, - cleanup of Buildings 18 and 91/54. To estimate the cost of the operations and to monitor the progress of the work, an indicator system was put in place based on work units representative of the operation. The values of the work units were periodically updated on the basis of experience feedback. The cleanup progress is now 92% complete (06/12/31): - treatment and removal of nuclear material: 100%, - removal of radioactive sources: 100%, - treatment and removal of aqueous liquid waste: 64%, - treatment and removal of organic effluents: 87%, - treatment and removal of solid waste: 99%, - pumping out of the PETRUS tank: 69%, - flushing and decontamination of tank: 75%, - section cleaning of Buildings 18 and 91/: 90%. The DRSN/SAFAR is the delegated Project Owner for cleanup and dismantling operations. It is also the prime contractor for the cleanup and dismantling operations. SAFAR itself is responsible for operations relating to the CEA activity and those with technical risks (Removal of nuclear materials, Removal of radioactive sources, Pumping out plutonium and transuranic contaminated solvent and Flushing and decontamination of tanks and pipes). All other operations are sub-contracted to specialist companies. The NLF57 cleanup program as executed is capable of attaining activity levels compatible with a future dismantling operation using known and mastered techniques and producing a minimum of HLW.
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, Illinois 60526 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21144223
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: DD and R 2007: ANS Topical Meeting on Decommissioning, Decontamination, and Reutilization 2007, Chattanooga, TN (United States), 16-19 Sep 2007; Other Information: Country of input: France; 3 refs; Related Information: In: Proceedings of the 2007 ANS Topical Meeting on Decommissioning, Decontamination, and Reutilization - DD and R 2007, 336 pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
CEA FONTENAY-AUX-ROSES
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
DECONTAMINATION
DEPLETED URANIUM
FUEL CYCLE
HAZARDS
LABORATORY BUILDINGS
LIQUID WASTES
NATURAL URANIUM
OFFICE BUILDINGS
PLUTONIUM
PUMPING
PUREX PROCESS
RADIOCHEMISTRY
SOLID WASTES
SPENT FUELS
TANKS