• Rapsodie reactor and Fuel assembly shearing laboratory (LDAC)

Rapsodie, a fast neutron experimental reactor, was shut down on 15 April 1983. Final shutdown was declared on 28 May 1985. As from 1987, this installation has been undergoing work, which led to its partial decommissioning.

This work was interrupted in 1994, further to a fatal accident which occurred during the cleaning of a sodium tank. This accident, which emphasizes the risks involved in decommissioning operations, necessitated rehabilitation and partial cleanup processes, which were completed by the end of 1997. Since then, the clean-up, limited decommissioning and waste removal work has resumed and the installation has now reached the servicing and surveillance phase. Renovation and refurbishment work has also been carried out.

Installed at Cadarache, the LDAC, which is part of the BNI comprising the Rapsodie reactor, carried out tests and reviews on spent fuel irradiated in Rapsodie or in other fast neutron reactors. This laboratory has been shut down since 1997. It is cleaned-up, under surveillance and awaiting decommissioning.

In 2002 and 2003, the CEA sent the ASN the updated General Operating Rules (RGEs) and an updated safety reference system which covered the Rapsodie reactor, the LDAC and the neutron radiography reactor in a single document. The 2005 review of these documents found that the justifications were insufficient, in particular with respect to the forthcoming clean-up operations. A revised version of the installation's safety reference system should be forwarded to the ASN at the end of 2005.

• Harmonie reactor

The Harmonie reactor, a source of graded neutrons, mainly used for detector calibration and investigation of the properties of certain materials, installed on the CEA Cadarache site, has been shut down since 1996. After removal of the depleted uranium, the experimental rigs, the fuel and the sources it contained, it was decommissioned on 18 December 1997.

The decree authorising the CEA to proceed with final shutdown and decommissioning was published on 8 January 2004. The operations covered by this decree are in progress. Reactor block cutting, reactor hall clean-up and waste removal were carried out in 2005.

• Enriched uranium processing facilities (ATUE)

The ATUE at the CEA Cadarache Centre provided conversion into sinterable oxide of the uranium hexafluoride from the isotopic enrichment plants. They were also used for the chemical reprocessing of fuel element fabrication scraps to recover the enriched uranium they contain. The facility was also equipped with a low level organic liquid incinerator. Production in the facilities ended in July 1995 and the incinerator was shut down at the end of 1997. In April 2002, the ASN authorised the clean-up of the incineration line.

In March 1998, the CEA provided a request for final shutdown and decommissioning of this BNI, which was updated in 2003. The decree authorising these operations should be published in 2006.

• Cadarache irradiator (IRCA)

The Cadarache irradiation installation was designed to test the resistance of PWR safety-related electrical equipment to gamma radiation. Since the installation has not functioned since June 1995, the licensee decided to shut it down in March 1996. The sources it contained were removed and sent to the Grenoble centre in April 1996.

The decree authorising the CEA to proceed with final shutdown and decommissioning was published on 8 January 2004. The operations covered by this decree were carried out during 2004, after which, the CEA sent the ASN a BNI delicensing application based on a residual environmental impact assessment. A draft conventional encumbrance on behalf of the State was transmitted to the ASN in 2005.

• High activity laboratory (LHA)

The high activity laboratory (LHA) comprises several units equipped for research and production assignments on various radionuclides.

The ASN was informed of clean-up work end on cells 12 and 16. In 2005, cells 11 and 15 were being cleaned-up. Cells 0 and 2 were however still in operation. The ASN asked the licensee to send it a final shutdown and decommissioning dossier by early 2006.

• CELIMENE cell

The CELIMENE cell, adjoining the EL3 reactor, was commissioned in 1965 for review of the fuel from this reactor. This cell is now attached to the spent fuel analysis laboratory. The last fuel rods were removed in 1995 and a number of partial clean-up operations conducted until 1998. Decommissioning of the installation, currently under surveillance, is not planned before about 2010.

• Saturne accelerator

Saturne was a particle accelerator, located at the CEA Saclay Centre, dedicated to fundamental and applied research, circulating proton, deuteron, helium, or even heavier ion beams.

The decree authorising final shutdown and decommissioning of this installation was published in October 2002. The operations covered by this decree ended in February 2004. A request for BNI delicensing was sent to the ASN, along with a draft conventional encumbrance on behalf of the State. All the radioactive waste resulting from decommissioning was sent to the authorised channels. The encumbrance and the delicensing decision were signed in October 2005. The installation was therefore removed from the list of BNIs on 18 October 2005.

• Saclay linear accelerator (ALS)

The Saclay linear accelerator is located on the Orme des Merisiers site on the Saclay plateau. It is operated by the CEA. It has been shut down since 1996 and is currently in a "closure of operation" stage.

The decree authorising the CEA to carry out the shutdown and decommissioning operations on the ALS installation was published in January 2004. The operations covered by this decree ended in February 2004. The results of final shutdown and decommissioning were sent to the ASN. The final waste resulting from these operations was being taken away in 2005.

• AT1 pilot reprocessing facility

The AT1 pilot reprocessing facility, operated by the CEA, on the COGEMA La Hague site, was used to reprocess spent fuel from the Rapsodie and Phenix fast neutron reactors, between 1969 and 1979. It forms part of BNI 33 (UP2 400 plant).

Decommissioning of this installation began in 1982, and was completed in 2001. In 2001, the ASN duly took note of the end of clean-up, exclusive of civil works, and of transition to the surveillance stage.

• Caesium 137 and strontium 90 source fabrication facility (Élan IIB)

The ELAN II B installation, a CEA installation operated by COGEMA on the La Hague site, manufactured caesium 137 and strontium 90 sources until 1973.

The initial decommissioning operations undertaken by the Technicatome firm ended in November 1991.

A large number of renovation and maintenance operations took place during 2002 and 2003 (upgrading of the ventilation system, radiological mapping, etc.) with a view to decommissioning operation resumption. All the installation upgrade work and the work preparatory to decommissioning of the installation was carried out during 2004 and 2005. Radiological reconnaissance work was carried out in 2005 and the licensee sent the ASN the final shutdown dossier at the end of 2005. The CEA's provisional target is to complete decommissioning in 2013.

• UP2 400

COGEMA announced its decision to no longer reprocess spent fuel in the UP2 400 as of 1 January 2004 and to effect final shutdown (see chapter 13).