RHONE-ALPES

The CEA created the Pierrelatte site in 1960 to construct a plant to separate uranium isotopes for military purposes. In 1976, the CEA transferred the activities at the site with an industrial character to Cogéma, but kept laboratories and pilot units located in the northern zone. In 1979, it created the Centre d’études nucléaires de la Vallée du Rhône (Cen Valhro), composed of these installations and the research and development installations at Marcoule.

The CEA worked at Pierrelatte in the area of uranium enrichment by gaseous diffusion and by Chemex among other processes. The pilots of the Chemex process have been dismantled. During the dismantling, the CEA razed 1300 m2 of buildings. The waste contained 400 t of iron, resold after "decontamination" by sanding or by dipping in decontamination baths, and 45 t of wastes too contaminated by mercury to be accepted by Andra. The CEA also studied there the enrichment of lithium.

In 2002 the CEA is working on uranium enrichment by laser. Among the installations for Silva studies are the test banks Isabel, Cordy, Iris, Laser Arm C100, and the following:

--Maeva and Horus, separators designed for studies of vaporization, of the characterization of vapor, and of the reflux of uranium, and used with uranium for the first time in 1989;

--Anubis and Apis, test banks, designed for the study of the evaporation of uranium (physicochemical and thermohydraulic), put into service in 1993;

--Amon, test bank, designed for the improvement of the electron canon, put into service in 1994.

The CEA will close down its work on Silva by the end of 2003 in order to concentrate on enrichment by ultra-centrifugation.  Presumably at least a portion of the work on ultra-centrifugation will be carried out at Pierrelatte.

The research carried out at Pierrelatte does not relate to enrichment only. In 1998, the CEA studied there the use of supercritical water to destroy organic effluents by oxidation at high pressure and high temperature [CEAD 98].

Effluents and waste

The gaseous effluents amount to some 10 kBq/year [HC 98].

According to the 2000 Inventory of Andra, the solid wastes stored on the site are composed of waste buried in a large mound of earth (see below), sources, 1237 drums as well as tubs of TFA waste contaminated with natural uranium (66.2 kg), and 206 drums of waste from the Chemex process contaminated by uranium and mercury.

                                                                             --updated Jan. 2002

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