G2 and G3 produced about 2780 kg of plutonium (plus or minus 160 kg or plus or minus 5.7 %). The plutonium would have been contained in about 7100 to 10,500 t of irradiated fuel [Albright 97].

They have been dismantled to level 2 [CEAD 98]. G2 and G3, like G1, cannot be dismantled to level 3 without means of dealing with the graphite.

The wastes stored at G2-G3 include 24.1 t of technological solid waste packed in drums, 544 t of slag packed in drums, 4 t of fines from the melting process also in drums, 4060 t of metal blocks and ingots resulting from melting, 902 t of containers made from melted metal, and seven casks with control rods (4.1 TBq). The cores of G2/G3 contain 2400 t of graphite (0.83 PBq) and 2900 t of activated steel.

The "Dégainage G2-G3" entered into service in 1959. Presumably it served G1 as well as G2 and G3. Its functions included reception and storage of irradiated fuel and the removal of magnesium cladding from fuel, the treatment and dispatch of transport casks, and the storage of structural waste and water treatment waste. The installation experienced a series of problems ending with a fire and an explosion in 1983, which brought operations to a close. 

The dégainage" MAR-400, which was being equipped when the fire broke out, went into service in 1983 and continued to operate during the life of UP1. It now is used to store wastes. Andra lists the wastes stored in the "degainage" (probably G2-G3) at Mar-400 and in the 0 ditch of G1: magnesium (1,616.1 t), graphite (986.5t),  inox (31.8t), zircaloy (7.6 t), iron (15 t), aluminum (56.6 t), alumina (2.7t), resins (24.2t in CDS and Mar400), zeolites and diatomaceous earth (131.7 t) [Andra 00].

UP1 was built to reprocess fuel from G1, G2, and G3 and to recover the plutonium for military uses. In 1965, the installation treated for the first time fuel coming from an EDF reactor. After the startup of UP2/HAO at La Hague, the reprocessing of natural uranium graphite gas fuel (UNGG) from EDF and other electricity producers was gradually turned over to UP2; and after January 1987, UP1 was the only plant to reprocess UNGG fuel. UP1 also reprocessed fuel from EL4, the covers of Phénix, and aluminum alloys from the Célestin and research reactors. Military reprocessing came to an end in 1994 [Ener 15.xi.93].

In 1996, UP1 reprocessed the last UNGG fuel from EDF and from Vandellos in Spain. In the mean time, the installation received solutions of dissolved oxide fuel to reprocess, by means of the Tor-UP1 connection. In 1996 UP1 reprocesed fuel coming essentially from the CEA; which had been packaged in star. The last four months of 1997 were devoted to rinsing the installation

Between 1958 and the end of 1995, UP1 reprocessed 5906 t of "civilian" fuel [Bourgeois 96]. Since 1975, UP1 will have reprocessed 161,506 fuel elements from Vandellos representing a total of 1655 t of uranium [MiLi 26.xi.94]. According to the CEA, the plant reprocessed in total 18,565.76 t of fuel, including 17,685 t of UNGG fuel [Rivasi 00].

Initially the plutonium produced left the plant in the form of metal ingots intended for military use. Subsequently, at least a part of the plutonium was transformed into plutonium oxide for commercial purposes. A line for packaging Pu02 was put into service in 1990 [CoMar 91].

The circuits in UP1 have been rinsed, and UP1 and associated installations are undergoing a cleanup process that will last for some thirty years. The process is comprised of three programs: the final shut down process ("mise à l’arrêt définitif," known as MAD); monitoring and dismantling (DEM), and recovery and repackaging of waste (RCD). (The RCD program is described under Treatment of Solid Wastes.)

Five production installations will be cleaned up along with UP1. They are the Dégainage G1, the Dégainage G2-G3, MAR 400, the "stockage liquides des produits de fission" (liquid storage for fission products), and AVM (for AVM, see Liquid Waste below). The six installations with their attached equipment represent some sixty buildings and other structures. Five supporting installations, representing some fifty buildings and other structures, will be involved in the program. They are the STEL, CDS, ADM, ADL (see Solid Waste below), and a laboratory for chemical analyses.

MAD involves removing equipment outside the nuclear island that is not necessary for the security of that area, reinforcing the barriers confining radionuclides to the island, and inventorying radioactivity. It should be completed in 2001 or 2002.

A dozen years of "active surveillance" of the site are expected to follow accomplishment of MAD. Dismantling to level 2 is to begin around 2012 and will last until around 2029 [Bataille 97]. It will permit reduced (passive) surveillance and a request for a reclassification of the installations as ICPEs (presently they are under the statute regulating ISBNs) [CEAD 98]. Dismantling to level 3 remains a "possible, but not urgent" objective [Bataille 97].

An economic interest group, Codem (45% CEA, 45% EDF, 10% Cogéma) will make the final decisions about strategies and will finance and monitor the work. It will be carried out by Cogéma and Cogéma’s subcontractors.

Cogéma anticipates that the following wastes will be produced during the dismantling of UP1: 1) during the MAD phase—about 130 180-liter containers of vitified waste; 2400 to 3200 220-liter drums of asphalted waste; and 20-50 m3 of type B technological waste; 2) during the entire dismantling operation 5550 m3 of unpackaged B and C waste [CNE 99].

This list does not appear to be exhaustive.

The reactors irradiate lithium/aluminum targets for the production of tritium. They have also participated in the production of radioelements and of transuranics [BIST xi-xii.70]. Around 1978, they began to produce plutonium 239, and the quantity of tritium produced was reduced.

The production of plutonium was stopped in 1991, but the production of tritium continues. The reactors have operated alternatively since May 1991 [CogRa 91] and, in 1993, the reactors operated "at less than half of their capacity."  France plans to continue producing tritium in the  Célestin until around 2012, when production of tritium will begin in the Réacteur des essais à terre (RES) at Cadarache [Boucheron 2001].

Waste from the Célestin includes 40 t of aluminum stored in 1997 at APM and tritiated waste from the melting of aluminum [CNE 98].(See CDS below). According to the CEA, the UP1 plant reprocessed 665,7 t of plutonium-producing fuel from the Célestin [Rivasi 00].

                                                                                  --updated May 30, 2004

The main stages of the process are the extraction of gas through melting of the target; the chemical separation of hydrogen gas including tritium, on the one hand, and other gases, on the other hand; and the enrichment of tritium by thermal diffusion [Hugony 77]. In 1981, ATM released into the air during normal operation 700 Ci/24 hr. We have available totals for only 1973, 1974, and 1976 when the releases were on average 200,000 Ci/yr of which 84-92% was HTO [CHSMar 18.23.vi.75].

The targets that are melted at ATM are contaminated by activation products. The tritium residues, plus the radionuclides that do not become volatile, remain in the melt that forms in the crucible after fusion [CDRPC 94]. The melts are stored in a special indoor storage area at Marcoule for tritiated waste. We do not know the location. Each year 20 to 30 fusion melts are produced. As of 1997, the storage area for tritiated waste contained 270 crucible melts awaiting packaging plus 1295 200-liter drums in 300-liter overpacks [CNE 98]. We do not know whether the waste in the drums is all crucible melts. Nitrogen traps were or are used to catch the tritiated water [CDRPC 94]. We do not know the location of these traps.

Liquids considered to be nonradioactive are sent through ordinary drains and released, after checking, into the contre-canal or the Rhône. "In September 1997, the maximum radioactivity [of these liquids?] due to tritium was 27 Bq/l" [HC 98]. Highly radioactive liquids are vitrified; other liquids are treated in a station known as the STEL.

The workshop can vitrify 36 l/h of concentrated solutions of fission products and transuranics from reprocessing and other sources. In 2001, AVM vitrifries the most radioactive effluents from MAD operations at UP1.

The containers of glass are placed in vertical wells constructed in concrete trenches within a hall adjacent to AVM. In 1995, the installation had five trenches with a total capacity of 3800 containers [CNE 95]. As of mid-2000, 2793 containers of glass were stored at AVM, as were 258 m3 of solution containing fission products [Andra 99].

The CEA transports to AVM for vitrification the very highly radioactive effluents from Fontenay, Cadarache, and Valduc. A station for depositing very highly radioactive effluents (THA), in use at the Cogema site since 1994, facilitates the transfer of the effluents from transport cisterns to AVM’s storage tanks [CEAD 98].

II.E.2. STATION DE TRAITEMENT DES EFFLUENTS LIQUIDES [STEL]

Purpose/type: treatment of contaminated liquids

The Stel treats effluents from Cogéma and from Cen Valrho, with the possible exception of Phénix [CDRPC 94] by precipitation or evaporation. Units include a coprecipitation unit and an evaporation workshop (Eva) composed of two chains with an 8t/h capacity. The resulting sludges or concentrates are packaged in asphalt. Those treated since 1990 will necessitate disposal as type B waste, due to the high concentration of radioacitvity in this waste [CNE 98]. Treated liquids are discharged directly into the Rhone in a discontinuous process. The station is equipped with five holding basins each with a capacity of 500 to 750 m3 and a 5000 m3 storage basin, which can retain liquids during periods when the Rhone is too low for their release [HC 98]. Andra continues to coat in asphalt wastes from the treatment of radioactive liquids at the Stel. Since 1996, the coated wastes have been packaged in 200-liter drums of stainless steel. In 1999, 199 drums of waste packaged in asphalt were produced; in 2000, 148 drums [CLIGard 13.vi.01].  Degraded radioactive solvents and various oils are also stored at the Stel.

In twelve or more bunkers at the Stel are stored approximately 55,000 drums of medium-activity solid wastes, packaged in asphalt. As of 1994 the stock was increasing at the rate of 1000 drums/yr [CFDT 93; MiLi 16.vi.94]. In 1997, however production amounted to 1007 drums; in 1998, 345; and in 1999, 199. At the same time, wastes were leaving Marcoule. Cogéma sent to Andra 3137 m3 in 1997; 1887 m3 in 1998, and 2212 m3 in 1999 [CLIGard 27.vi.00]. The Stel also stores radioactive, degraded solvents and various oils.

Cogéma’s list of accomplishments for 1999 includes "production of equipment for taking waste from the trenches STEL-ERFS for technological wastes, wood, metal" [CLIGard 27.vi.00, p. 5].

The installations for the treatment of solid waste include the Atelier de Conditionnement et d’entreposage des déchets solides (Workshop for packaging and storing waste, CDS), the Atelier de décontamination du matériel (Workshop for decontaminating equipment, ADM), and the Atelier de décontamination du linge (Workshop for decontaminating fabrics, ADL). The CDS handles waste for the CEA and for Cogéma. In 1996 it operated an incinerator for solid waste with high alpha activity, treating 1 kg/h" [Clef no. 33, 96]. We do not know if the incinerator is still in use.

According to the CEA, wastes generated at Marcoule over the last forty years have been treated and then stored or dispatched, as they were produced. The CDS handles all solid waste except the highly radioactive glass generated by and stored at vitrification facilities. The CDS has sent and still sends waste that meets the criteria of Andra (waste classified as A) to an Andra storage site. It has stored B waste on site, usually after packaging it in asphalt. Initially this waste went into trenches at CDS, later into bunkers at the Stel. Waste regarded as "very low activity" (TFA) is stored on site at the CDS [CEAD 99].

Wastes stored at the CDS today include those listed immediately below. (For additional stored wastes, see APM, UP1, Stel, and the Dégainages for additional stored wastes)

--6000 drums of type B waste packaged in asphalt and stored in trenches [CEAD 99] (The trenches are said to also contain "unpackaged waste" [HC 98];

--A portion of 900 m3 of technological waste containing about 44 kg of plutonium (the balance is at UP1 and ECDA);

--An additional 3700 m3 of technological waste [Andra 99] (beta waste according to C. Bataille 97);

--1000 packages of "reactor waste";

--a portion of 21 m3 of degraded solvants and various oils (the balance at the Stel);

--12,220 m3 of gravel (2 GBq alpha; 49.7GBq beta/gamma contamination).

A storage site for tritiated waste and a storage site for alpha waste appear in a list of storage sites for solid waste [HC 98]. It is not clear where these are. The tritiated waste was at one time stored in an outdoor storage area at CDS, but, because of tritium contamination of the groundwater (300,000 Bq/l in 1987), the wastes were retrieved and transferred to a building [HC 98]. A portion, if not all, of the tritiated waste is crucible melts produced at ATM (see ATM for further information). The alpha waste is diverse, but includes 30 packages wrapped in vinyl, and waste in drums: not burnable (544 drums), burnable (462 drums), compacted (200 drums and 10 C7 shells) [CNE 98].

The solid wastes at Marcoule are not limited to those stored in specific buildings or designated storage areas. They also include what Andra calls "contaminations résiduelles," soil contaminated by accidental leaks and spills but still in place. (See Soils below.)

RECOVERY AND REPACKAGING OF WASTES (RCD)

By consulting old documents, Cogéma inventoried the waste stored at Marcoule at the end of 1987. Cogéma based the RCD program on this inventory. The first priority is the retrieval and repackaging of the asphalted waste from reprocessing stored in trenches at or near the CDS on the north end of the site. The totality of the asphalted reprocessing wastes, 61,397 drums (470 TBq alpha and 42,000 TBq beta/gamma) as of May 1999, [Andra 99] will, in fact, be the subject of a "vast" retrieval effort [CEAD 98]. Management of the waste constitutes a challenge. A CFDT spokesperson reported in 1993 that preparing the waste for Andra would necessitate the separation of the asphalt and the sludges, a reduction of the activity of the latter (which would create more wastes), and repackaging [CFDT 93]. The CNE notes that around 60% of the waste in existing drums will be able to be sent to Andra for surface storage, presumably after repackaging [CNE 98].

L'Entreposage intermédiaire polyvalent (Multi-use intermediate storage site, EIP) has been constructed by Cogéma to store type B waste, mostly the asphalted drums.  Entry into service was authorized in January 2000 and the recovery of drums began [CEAD 99].  

L'Eceinte de reprise des fûts de bitume (Enclosure for the recovery of asphalted drums, ERFB) is designed to recover 6000 drums stored in trenches in the north zone.  Until 1996 the radioactive waste from the treatment of liquid effluents at the Stel was packaged in drums of black steel that today show the beginnings of corrosion.  The drums in black steel will be recovered and packaged in stainless-steel over-drums and sent for long-term storage to the EIP (MarEnv 00].  At the end of 2000, ERFB had recovered, packaged, and sent to the EIP, 448 drums with asphalt [CogMar ii.01].

L'Equipement de reprise des fosses Stel (ERFS) for waste said to be weakly radioactive.  ERFS entered into service in 2000 [CLIGard 13.vi.01]. 

Bataille, who visited the CDS, writes that the storage of waste "in simple drums, some of which are in bad condition or in outdoor trenches" does not correspond to our present conceptions of safety." "The cleanup program at Marcoule is therefore a priority" and must not be slowed down for financial reasons [Bataille 97].

Bataille also points out the massive quantities of waste stored at Marcoule for which no permanent storage site is as yet available (TFA, tritiated waste, contaminated graphite, B waste, C waste); and, using the wastes at the G reactors as an example, notes that dismantling will produce additional waste. The Marcoule site, he states with justice, is being transformed little by little into a waste repository [Bataille 97].

II.F.4 Aténa (Atelier de Traitement et d’Entreposage du Na Actif; Shop for the Treatment and Storage of Radioactive Sodium)—under development