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The RCD operations for silo 130
Silo 130 is situated within the perimeter of the site’s old
effluent treatment station. The silo 130 containment is
underground. It is made of reinforced concrete and designed
for dry storage of the solid waste generated by reprocessing
of spent fuel from the Gas-Cooled Reactor (GCR) plant series.
As of 1973, the silo received waste of this type, until
the 1981 fire which forced the licensee to flood the waste.
The tightness of the silo thus filled with water is ensured
by means of a containment barrier consisting of a steel liner.
Should its single containment barrier fail, silo 130 represents
a risk of environmental contamination with radioactive
substances. In its resolution of 29th June 2010,
ASN thus required Areva NC to implement means
of monitoring the tightness and mitigating the consequences
of a possible leak from silo 130.
The RCD operations for silo 130 can be divided into
two distinct phases (see diagram opposite):
• first step: waste recovery and safe interim storage;
this first step, which will be spread over several years,
is designed to ensure rapid improvement of the safety
of the current silo 130 by emptying it of its waste and
storing it safely, pending the development of final disposal
solutions; the package intended for interim packaging
of the waste from silo 130 has not yet been finally
determined;
• second step: final packaging and disposal of the waste;
this second step intends to carry out final packaging
of the waste from silo 130 in an appropriate disposal
package and to dispose of this waste in a dedicated facility.
If this disposal facility is not available at the time of final
packaging of the waste, additional interim storage could
prove necessary.
These recovery operations entail risks of disseminating
radioactive substances and exposing workers to ionising
radiation. These risks are however lower and more easily
managed than those represented by the current situation
of silo 130.
Areva NC is today focusing on the construction of the recovery
unit and an authorisation application is currently being
reviewed. ASN set 1st July 2016 and 31st December 2022
as the latest dates for the beginning and end of the recovery
operations for all the waste.
TO BE NOTED
Waste
Silo 130
1
1
2
1. Interim package - 2. Final package
DIAGRAM
of recovery and packaging operations
Waste recovery
and interim packaging
Safe interim
storage
Final packaging
Disposal
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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