Type: ore treatment plant

Location: 12 ha site at Gueugnon (Saône-et-Loire) northeast of Vichy

Operator: Cogéma. The plant was built by the company Potasse et engrais chimiques (PEC)

Period of operation: 1955-1980

Raw materials: uranothorianite and uranium ore

Actual production: 800 t of uranium

In the beginning the plant received uranothorianite ore from Madagascar, then ore from various sources and pre-concentrates from the mechanical preparation shop in Forez, finally pre-concentrates from Mounana (Gabon). The plant treated 26,000 t of pre-concentrates and 168,000 t of minerals with 5% uranium and produced in all 800 t of uranium in the form of uranyl nitrate [CEAMin 85, Desgraupes 91, CFDT 80].

The wastes are stored in a 6 ha basin. They include:

--about 168,000 t (dry weight) of residues from the treatment of ore from France;

--17,060 t of residues from the treatment of pre-concentrates from Gabon;

--40,484 t of material from dismantling the plant and the removal of topsoil.

The radioactivity of the radium 226 and thorium 230 is 20.8 TBq [InfoU iii-iv.92].

The plant was dismantled and the wastes from dismantling buried on the site. According to Andra, the site has been "enclosed, banks reinforced, a vegetable cover put in place, inert materials brought in . . . , surrounding lands covered with sterile and stable materials" [Andra 96, 99, 00].