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Areva NC monitoring of the status
of evaporator capacity
In 2011, Areva NC brought to light several holes in the
shell of an evaporator used to concentrate fission product
solutions in the R7 unit. This evaporator could not be
returned to service andneeds tobe replaced. Inmid-2012,
the licensee sent ASN a file presenting the safety options
it had selected for the design of the new evaporator, to
replace the old one. Examination of this file continued
in 2014. The installation of this new evaporator is today
scheduled for about 2017.
Furthermore, inOctober 2014, high corrosion rates were
observed on the fission product solutions concentration
evaporators in the R2 unit. These rates are higher than
those of the equipment design and higher than those
observed on the same equipment in the T2 unit. ASN
asked the licensee to explain this difference between
the R2 and T2 units and to analyse the impact of this
accelerated corrosion mechanism on the security of the
plant’s evaporator capacity for the coming years. Moreover,
given the safety issues associatedwith these evaporators,
ASN is considering prescribing an annual inspection of
the condition of this equipment in order to preclude any
possibility of an accident. The situation of this equipment
is the subject of particularly high vigilance on the part
of ASN, which considers that this is a priority issue for
2016 in terms of safety on this site.
Radiation protection
In 2015, as in previous years, ASN considers that worker
radiationprotection in the LaHague plant is on thewhole
satisfactory. The staff of outside contractors, in particular
those working on the decommissioning of the UP2-400
plant, are the most exposed workers in the facility.
1.2.3 Ongoing and future plant modifications
Authorisation applications for processing
of new types of fuels
The operating range of the plants is defined in the 12thMay
1981 Creation Authorisation Decrees for the plants on
the La Hague site, updated in 2003 for each type of fuel
assembly.
In 2011, Areva NC asked for authorisation to receive,
store and reprocess spent MOX fuels from the Italian
Trino reactor, in the UP3-A and UP2-800 plants on the
La Hague site. ASN authorised these operations in its
resolution of 31st March 2015.
In 2013, Areva NC applied for authorisation to extend
the operating range of its facilities so that on the one
hand it could receive and store fuel pins irradiated in
the Phenix reactor, prior to reprocessing and, on the
other, so that it could reprocess fuels based on Enriched
Reprocessed Uranium (URE), while remaining within
the operating range specified by the Decrees of 12thMay
1981. ASN issued these authorisations in its resolutions
of 11th March 2014 and 24th April 2014 respectively.
In 2014, Areva NC also applied for ASN authorisation
to extend the operating range of its plants to reprocess
Enriched Natural Uraniumbased fuels (UNE) resulting
from “Galice” fuel management in EDF’s reactors. ASN
authorised these operations in its resolution of 15th July
2015.
In 2015, Areva NC requested authorisation to receive,
store and reprocess spent fuels comprising MOX and
enriched natural uraniumpins from the ItalianGarigliano
reactor, in the UP3-A and UP2-800 plants. These fuels
(assemblies comprising both MOX pins and uranium
oxide pins) do not fall within the operating range of
the plants defined by the Decrees of 12th May 1981.
The modification of these Decrees is currently being
reviewed.
Also in 2015, ArevaNC requested authorisation to receive
and reprocess low-enrichment uranium-silicide test and
research reactor fuels from theOsiris reactor, in the UP3-A
plant. This file is currently being reviewed by ASN.
Implementation of new storage capacity
for vitrified waste packages
The construction of the first vitrified waste storage
extension on the La Hague site (EEVLH) in order to
anticipate saturation of storage capacity for vitrified
waste packages (R7, T7 and EEVSE) which began
in 2007, was completed in 2013. This extension
comprises two pits, known as pits 30 and 40, each
able to increase the existing facility’s storage capacity
by 4,199 packages.
Initially, only pit 30 was equipped with its storage shafts.
This pit was partially commissioned following the ASN
resolution of 12th September 2013, with a storage
capacity limited to six packages of vitrified waste per
shaft. ASN considered that the safety case did not allow
it to go any further than this, in particular in terms of
heat removal from the waste packages at full capacity.
Once the licensee completed its safety assessment and
ASN had reviewed it, ASN issued the authorisation for
complete commissioning of pit 30 on 11th June 2015.
The forecasts of the storage capacity for standard vitrified
waste packages (CSD-V) on the La Hague site show
the need for a doubling of current capacity by 2017.
On 4th June 2013, Areva NC thus sent the Minister in
charge of Nuclear Safety a file requesting authorisation
tomodify the UP3-A plant (BNI 116) in order to increase
this storage capacity:
•
4,199 additional spaces with the outfitting of pit 40
of the EEVLH extension;
•
8,398 additional spaces with the construction of the
EEVLH2 extension, an installation equivalent to EEVLH
and comprising two new pits (pits 50 and 60).
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CHAPTER 13:
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE INSTALLATIONS
ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2015