COGEMA La Hague site

49.678333333333 - 1.8794444444444Koordinaten: 49 ° 40 '42 " N, 1 ° 52 ' 46 " W

The reprocessing plant at La Hague (French Usine de retraitement de La Hague ) is an industrial complex in the Cogema group in the area of ​​La Hague. The approximately 2.5 kilometers long and one kilometer wide complex extends over the territory of the five municipalities Beaumont -Hague, Herqueville, Jobourg, Omonville- la -Petite and Digulleville.

The main purpose of the present reprocessing plant, the separation of constituents from spent nuclear fuel. This contains about 96% uranium, 1% plutonium and 3% fission products. There are two plants ( UP2 -800 and UP3 ) at the La Hague site in operation. They are specifically designed for the reprocessing of oxide fuel from light water reactors. The plant UP2 -800 is for the domestic requirements, UP3 provided for reprocessing of foreign fuel.

History

With the decision of France at the time of de Gaulle to become a nuclear power, you had to develop methods for the production of plutonium. For built the Commissariat à l' énergie Atomique (CEA ) 1958 the plant at Marcoule, and a little later a second to compensate for failures.

On August 10, 1961 decision, which identified the need to establish a reprocessing plant for spent nuclear fuel to recover plutonium appeared. Work began in 1962 on the level of skin -Marais. In order to process the fuel for the French power company Electricité de France (EdF ) built pressurized water reactors, a system for highly active uranium oxide ( UP2 -400) was built. 1966, the reprocessing plant with the arrival of the first shipment of spent fuel from the nuclear power plant Chinon on their operation.

1969 circulated after the course change in nuclear policy under Georges Pompidou rumor, you would close the plant because they had become useless for the military because of the stock in the future sufficient plutonium. With the dismissal of 350 employees, the number of workers was reduced by a third, at the same time the influence of the military was ended.

Since then, the system particularly since the election of Valéry Giscard d' Estaing ( from autumn 1973) of nuclear energy after the first oil crisis attributed particular importance is for processing of civilian spent nuclear fuel.

1976 left the CEA the plant a new state company, the Cogema, the future a facility for the treatment of radioactive waste operation with the aim of reprocessing of French and foreign fuel.

A government decree of 1980 allowed the expansion of the system to a new sector, which began operating in 1990. This site was responsible for the massive transformation of the coast around La Hague around.

Function and operation

To separate the partially reusable radioactive fission products in a reprocessing plant chemical and physical processes are used. Plutonium and parts of the uranium can be processed into new fuel elements, which are also radioactive waste must be treated and ultimately disposed of.

The high-level radioactive waste at La Hague in two glazing systems (R7, T7) made ​​into solid glass blocks ( " HAW - glazing "). Means radioactive liquid waste is added to the high-level radioactive waste. The hulls and ends of the fuel assemblies were cemented to 1995. Since the Radiolysegasbildung would have led in cemented sleeves and structural parts to major problems in the disposal of this waste stream, meanwhile cementing was replaced by the grouting under pressure. The operation of compacting (Atelier de compactage of Coques; ACC) was approved in May 2002. The few years ago still by default practiced bitumenization was largely discontinued and is limited today to small amounts of residual stocks. Low -level radioactive solid waste are cemented, while the pre-treated low-level radioactive waste water is discharged into the sea in defiance of the limits specified: Greenpeace noted under the supervision of a certified technical experts, that up to 63 micron sized radioactive particles would be launched, whereby according to the operating permit only one size of 25 microns is allowed. Over a four and a half kilometers long tube 400 cubic meters of radioactive waste would be washed into the English Channel daily. This procedure is legal, since only the sinking of barrels is prohibited nuclear waste in the sea, the direct discharge is not. This would also have large amounts of krypton -85 emitted into the atmosphere at regular intervals.

The further treatment of the waste depends on its origin: All conditioned radioactive waste from the reprocessing of foreign fuel will be returned after a temporary intermediate storage in the country of origin. According to research of the TV station arte and the French newspaper Libération, however, annually 108 tons of depleted uranium were transported to the Russian nuclear power plant Sewersk on behalf of Electricité de France since the mid- nineties. Only 20% of the material are therefore returned from there to France for reuse, such as the documentation nightmare of nuclear waste unveiled. Low-and intermediate- level short-lived solid waste be disposed of French origin in the Centre de l' Aube. Wastes that are not suitable (especially the glazed HAW), are stored at La Hague site until an appropriate repository is available.

Breakdowns, accidents

In 1981 there was a disastrous fire in a storage silo, the troubled many people. This incident was the occasion for intense discussions and attacks between the Cogema and militant eco-activists.

During the summer of 1997, Cogema began to replace the pipes of the plant into the sea and worked on the removal of debris that had accumulated over the years inside the tubes. This layer of debris contained numerous, over the years accumulated, radioactive waste and substances that freely passed through the tube into the water and cleaning the sea heavily loaded. This was confirmed by an examination of the CRIIRAD which revealed the contamination of crustaceans ( crabs and lobsters ). The OPRI other hand, objects that this contamination would be entirely under European regulations.

A party of nuclear power advocates raised on said measurements a natural radioactivity in the foreground, to explain the abnormal stress measured values ​​of the water and the animals. This statement is, however, doubted, since the limits have been exceeded and extremely natural radioactivity can thus be ruled out as a cause.

Criticism, resistance

Opponents of nuclear power

The first anti-nuclear activists and demonstrators were active in 1978, to demonstrate against the planned nuclear power plant in Flamanville. With the arrival of the first foreign nuclear fuel in January 1979 from Japan in the port of Cherbourg consciousness was awakened to the system again. Many demonstrators occupied the cranes and facilities of the port, more than 8000 people took part in the demonstrations in Cherbourg.

Today, the protests are more focused on Greenpeace and whose actions, also to spread the topic in the media, such as during transport of nuclear fuel and radioactive waste or at the taking of water samples taken at the sewer pipes of the plant and the risks and environmental problems should make it clear.

Blood cancer in children

In a French study of 1997, the relationship between the radioactive discharges and increased blood cancer rate in children and adolescents has been demonstrated. Compared to the national average blood cancer rate is increased within a radius of 10 kilometers around the plant in La Hague by a factor of three. However, this is similar to the German KiKK study on leukemia incidence in children in the vicinity of German nuclear power plants, hard to explain. Reason is that the additional radiation exposure inherent in these systems, makes up only a fraction of the natural background radiation and under all specified limit values ​​remains, on the other hand, in these studies, confounding factors ( confounders ) due to insufficient data can not be excluded. It should be remembered that by the operators only mean emission values ​​, but not the daily peak values, as arise, for example when fuel changes, specified. No attention is captured by food and water radioactive particles from the agricultural production of the area. In addition, the limits refer to a healthy adult man; Children have a higher risk of disease due to their rapid growth and reduced body weight.

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