Reprocessing plant of La Hague

The plant reprocessing of La Hague is a nuclear center of Retraitement in which one treats part of the combustible used in some of the nuclear reactors belonging to the France, the Japan, the Germany, the Belgium, the Suisse and the Netherlands, to separate the various radioactive elements from them.

Service entrance in 1966, factory is located close to Cape to La Hague (see with this word for the choices which led to this establishment), on the communes of Jobourg, Omonville-the-Small, Digulleville and Beaumont-La Hague, in the North-West of the point of the Péninsule of Cotentin (Manche). It is managed by the company Areva NC. It is not a Nuclear plant.

Activity

Of an industrial capacity of treatment of 1700 tons fuel spent per annum, the factory reprocessed in 2005 1100 tons.

On the outlet side of the engine, a worn nuclear fuel contains approximately energy matter 97% known as Recyclable S (96% of Uranium impoverished and 1% of Plutonium) polluted by 3% of actinides and highly dangerous and nonreusable products (ultimate waste). The latter are treated and conditioned, today by vitrification, for their storage on the surface and possibly of their storage in deep geological layer. Waste coming from abroad - after a certain time - is sent back to the foreign customers who have obligation to take them again (obligation confirmed by the Loi Battles in 1991). One of the objectives of this recycling is to reduce the quantity of radioactive waste to be stored in confined surroundings.

Recovered plutonium is transported to Marcoule where it is used to manufacture Combustible MOX.

History

For the will gaullienne to equip France with the atomic bomb, it was necessary to develop the production of plutonium. For that, the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique opened a factory with Marcoule in 1958, and to mitigate a possible failure of this one, in project one second factory of plutonium extraction put.

August 10th, 1961 appears the decree declaring of public utility and urgent the building work of a processing center of irradiated fuels. Work starts in 1962 on the plate of the High-Marsh. The first castle of natural Uranium graphite gas arrives in 1966 coming from the engine of Chinon.

In 1969, rumors run on the closing of the factory, become useless for the army because of military plutonium stock from now on sufficient, while Georges Pompidou redefines the French nuclear policy. Manpower are reduced by a third with the departure of 350 paid, marking the end of the military influence. It seems that no gram of plutonium coming from La Hague had a use of armament.

Starting from this date, the factory is directed towards the civil reprocessing, supported by the choice of Valery Giscard d'Estaing of the “any nuclear power” following the first Oil crisis. The engineers anticipate the generation of the REFERENCE MARK of EDF by the installation of workshop HAO (High activity oxidizes) or UP2-400. In 1976, the ECA yields the factory to the new state enterprise, Cogéma, which manages from now on a nuclear reprocessing plant aiming at recycling French fuel of EDF and foreigner. At the time, this passage at a state enterprise but of private law is seen by the personnel and the town councilors like a disengagement of the state with respect to the nuclear power and their fact of fearing a less Draconian risk management. The anxious agents start to speak. CFDT carries out this year documentary “a Condamné to make a success of ”, electric shock for the population. On bottom of opposition to privatization, it illustrates the difficult work conditions, draft of the dangers of irradiations, made by concern of the agents. This document is then used by the antinuclear ones. The executives of Cogéma accept this internal criticism badly.

The first antinuclear demonstrators mobilize themselves in the area in 1978, against future the Nuclear plant of Flamanville. It is the arrival in the wearing of Cherbourg of the first foreign fuels (coming from Japan) which will point out the existence of the “atomic power plant” , in January 1979. The cranes of the port are then occupied, of great demonstrations join together 8 to 10.000 people in the streets cherbourgeoises.

Then in 1981, the fire of a storage bin feeds concerns, and is the occasion of a war of communication between services of Cogéma and militant ecologists. Today, the dispute is concentrated on the actions mediatized of Greenpeace during the transport of waste before or after recycling, or around taking away independent films of the pipe of rejection, studies on the health hazard (Leucémie S.).

A decree of public utility of 1980 confirmed by the left arrived at the capacity, allows work of extension of the factory, of which the new unit (UP3) which will enter in service ten years later. It is the launching of the Large building site, which transforms into one decade the Cape of La Hague.

The summer 1997, COGEMA rather than to replace the control of rejection at sea, carries out the cleaning and the recovery of the Tartre accumulated inside the drain. This boiler fur had fixed significant amounts of radionuclides coming from the effluents. Its scouring will pollute maritime environment. It is an analysis independent of the CRIIRAD which reveals shellfish contaminations (Crabe S and Homard S). OPRI supports whereas this contamination is in conformity with the European standards, without specifying that the limits which he calls upon are reserved for the accidents nucléaires.
Part of pro-nuclear as for them proposed a natural radioactivity to explain these abnormally high rates of radioactivity.

In 2000, the decennial contracts of UP3 end, leaving the place to contracts with the fixed price, resulting in a reduction of manpower.

Effluents

The site at sea rejects radioactive wastes resulting from the processes of reprocessing fuel worn. These rejections are framed by specific authorizations (tritium for example). The management of this waste is said by dilution (in opposition to a management by containment).

According to the opponents with the nuclear power, the factory of La Hague is one of the most polluting nuclear installations of the world. Greenpeace for example measured in the radioactive rejections in Handle (230 000 m ³ per annum) and in the atmosphere, of the concentration of Krypton 85 of 90.000 Bq/m ³, whereas the natural radiation is from 1 to 2 Bq/m ³ in the air .

Preventing the risks related to the Public health, Areva NC is committed so that the impact of the activity of the factories of La Hague never exceeds a value considered by the experts as synonym of “zero impact”. The Areva group recognizes however that the stack disposals and liquid of the site involve a surdose for the neighbouring populations, about two days of natural radioactivity .

Risk proliferation

The process of separation PUREX led to isolate plutonium from other actinides. He is regarded as proliferating by the United States.

Transport of fuels

Security measures

Since 40 years, the Fuel nuclear of many countries of the world (France, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Belgium,…) is or was conveyed with the factory of La Hague to carry out a nuclear Retraitement there. With an annual capacity of 1700 tons spent fuel, thousands of tons of worn fuel are stored on standby reprocessing, including approximately 50 tons of plutonium.

To prevent the risk of attack, the factory is supervised permanently by radars and sometimes, by missile launchers Crotale.

Impact on the local economy

The factory is the first economic actor of the Communauté of communes of La Hague on the territory of which it is located. Under the local taxes it pays between 21 and 25 million € (source: Regional court of the accounts of Basse-Normandie). The establishment counts several town councilors among its agents.

See too

Sources

Measurements of radioactivity (Greenpeace)

Site of the factory Areva NC it La Hague

Monitoring of the radioactivity in the environment of the factory

the state of the environment in La Hague

Polemical on leukemias of La Hague

Documentary: " Ultimatom" Realized by Laurent Tabet on La Hague in the middle of French nuclear industry (50mn in Realvideo 33Kb).
HTTP: /www.leventquipasse.fr the factory, delivers of Dominique Gros on the history of the construction of the factory of La Hague

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