RHONE-ALPES GRENOBLE-INSTITUT MAX VON LAUE-PAUL LANGEVIN (ILL) Purpose: studies in the area of physicsInstallations: heavy water reactor and extraction of tritiumType: international research instituteLocation: near Cen-Grenoble, at Grenoble (Isère)Operator: France, United Kingdom, Germany Period of operation: since 1971 Materials handled: highly enriched uranium, tritium, deuterium Spain, Austria, and Switzerland pay to use the installations. Russia can use it in exchange for provision of highly enriched uranium [NucF 17.vi.96]. RÉACTEUR À HAUT FLUX (RHF) Purpose/type : heavy water caisson, intended for basic researchPeriod of operation : since 1971 (see below)Power : maximum authorized: 58.3 MW thermalFuel : aluminum/uranium enriched to 93% (a single element of about 8.5 kg of uranium)Moderator and coolant : 40 t of heavy waterFrom its entry into service until January 1990 RHF operated at a power level 10% higher than authorized, because of an error in calculation. The reactor was shut down in the spring of 1991 because of cracks in an internal structure. The entire reactor vessel was replaced and the reactor started up again in 1995. The process of re-evaulating the reactor's safety began in 1995. The re-evaluation had not been completed at the beginning of 2001, because the operator had repeatedly postponed studies or reports of studies on the behavior of the buildings in an earthquake (for the Grenoble Center the estimate of the possible intensity of an earthquake has been raised) [DSIN 00]. The stored wastes include 33.5 l of oil contaminated with tritium (55 TBq) [Andra 00]. In 2000, the DSIN prepared a revision of the authorizations for release of liquid effluents to take into account a decision by the CEA to no longer accept them for elimination [DSIN 00].
USINE D’EXTRACTION DE TRITIUM (PLANT FOR THE EXTRACTION OF TRITIUM) Purpose : purification of heavy water from RHFPeriod of operation : since 1973Process : recovery and cryogenic distillation of deuteriumNominal capacity : 30 l/h of heavy waterAs of the beginning of 1988, the plant produced up to 100,000 Ci/yr (3700 TBq/yr or 10 g/yr) or 200,000 Ci/yr (7400 TBq/yr or 20 g/yr) of tritium. The source [Roth 88] presents two different figures on two different pages. In spite of some changes in the system, production probably remains about the same today. | |||