Treatment of Uranium Slugs at the CEA Marcoule site - 12026
Conference
·
OSTI ID:22293371
- CEA Marcoule (France)
The decladding units on the Marcoule nuclear site in southeast France were commissioned in the early 1960's to receive spent fuel cartridge for interim storage in pools and to prepare them for dissolution. After decladding, the uranium slugs were sent to the reprocessing plant for dissolution. The units were shut down in 1997. All the operational and process equipment was dismantled and transferred to the ANDRA waste repository between 1998 and 2001. During cleanup of the G2-G3 interim storage pool all the internal components (baskets and machinery) mounted on the civil engineering structures were cut up. In November 2007, a UNGG fuel slug in its aluminum cartridge was found at the bottom of the pool. Similarly, while iron slugs (used to control plutonium-producing reactors) were being sorted, five de-cladded uranium slugs were found between 2006 and 2008. As the processing facilities had already been dismantled, it was decided to send these fuel cartridges to a laboratory for dissolution. The project was to recover and condition the cartridge and slugs and transport them safely to the laboratory. This required the design of dedicated equipment due in particular to the high dose rate and pyro-phoricity hazard. The procedure also required safety clearance by the regulatory authorities for the operations within the facility and for the transport of radioactive materials. The cartridge was dissolved in May 2009, 18 months after it was discovered. Based on the experience acquired, the retrieval of the uranium slugs was completed in March 2011 after a year of preparation. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9-332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22293371
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US--14-WM-12026
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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