RHONE-ALPES SAINT-PRIEST-LA PRUGNE (FOREZ, BOIS NOIRS-LIMOUZAT-FOREZ) -- shut down Purpose: production of uranium Type: mine, part surface and part underground, and uranium mill Location: Saint-Priest-la-Prugne (Loire) to the south of Vichy Operator: mine-Cogéma; plant-Simo Period of operation: mine 1955-1980; plant 1960-1980 Nominal capacity: plant, 480 t/yr of uranium Production: plant, 7500 t of uranium The plant treated ore from mines in the former Forez Mining Division, which included Forez itself and Morvan [CEAMin 85]. It treated 2,500,000 t of ore at 2.6% uranium [Desgraupes 91] and produced 7500 t of uranium [Lallement 91]. SOLID WASTES A portion of the residues was used to fill in the underground galleries (8.25 TBq of radium 226; Andra does not indicate the tonnage); a portion, 1, 300,000 t, was stored in a basin (74.6 TBq of radium 226) [Andra 99]. The total radioactivity of the radium 226 and thorium 230 amounts to about 166 TBq. Thus the site, an “installation classée,” should, according to the regulations, be an INB. The 18-ha basin is located in the valley of the Besbre, behind a dike that is 500 m long and 40 m high. The residues in the basin are covered with 2 m of water, except possibly on the edges [InfoU iii-iv.92] . The dike cannot be considered “a long term solution” [Desgraupes 1991]. It is “in homogeneous compacted earth, with a bulwark of rocks below,” made with waste rock from the mine [InfoU v-vi.93]. The pit belonging to the surface mine has been partially filled and the site reshaped [Andra 99]. The mill has been dismantled, except for “the plant’s hall, workshops, and offices,” decontaminated and turned over to the commune [Andra 96]. J. Pradel, president of the Société francaise de radioprotection (SFRP) describes the dismantling: “When the Forez plant was dismantled, the materials were sorted into various categories. Part was put back into the public domain, in agreement with SCPRI . . . Items like pumps that were still usable were set aside for other plants. The bulk was transferred to the mine pit then covered with m3 of materials. We were thus able to dismantle a mill while making practically no radioactive wastes . . . “ [Compte 88]. In 1980 Andra requested an authorization to create a waste storage center on the site. It later abandoned the attempt. In 1996 Cogéma planned to move wastes from the basin to the pit belonging to the surface mine. Elected representatives and numerous residents feared that the transfer would release radon and that other waste would be stored at the site [InfoU ix-x.96]. |