Marcoule Nuclear Site (french: Site nucléaire de Marcoule) is a nuclear facility in the
Chusclan and
Codolet communes, near
Bagnols-sur-Cèze
Bagnols-sur-Cèze (, literally ''Bagnols on Cèze''; oc, Banhòus de Céser) is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitanie région in southern France.
History
A small regional center, Bagnols-sur-Cèze was quite certainly a Roman town ( ...
in the
Gard
Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;[department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...]
of
France, which is in the tourist, wine and agricultural
Côtes-du-Rhône region. The plant is around 25 km north west of
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
, on the banks of the
Rhone.
Operational since 1956, Marcoule is a gigantic site run by the atomic energy organization
Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique (CEA) and
Areva NC and is known as CEA VALRHO Marcoule. The first industrial and military
plutonium experiments took place in Marcoule. Diversification of the site was started in the 1970s with the creation of the
Phénix prototype
fast breeder reactor, which was operational until 2009, and is nowadays an important site for
decommissioning nuclear facilities activities.
the Phénix reactor was planned to be succeeded by the
sodium-cooled fast reactor
A sodium-cooled fast reactor is a fast neutron reactor cooled by liquid sodium.
The initials SFR in particular refer to two Generation IV reactor proposals, one based on existing liquid metal cooled reactor (LMFR) technology using mixed oxide fue ...
ASTRID (Advanced Sodium Technical Reactor for Industrial Demonstration), foreseen to become operational in the 2030s.
However in 2019 the ASTRID project was closed.
Since 1995, the MELOX factory has been producing
MOX from a mix of uranium and plutonium oxides. MOX is used to recycle plutonium from nuclear fuel; this plutonium comes from the
COGEMA La Hague site.
The ''ATelier Alpha et Laboratoires pour ANalyses, Transuraniens et Etudes de retraitement'' (ATALANTE) is a CEA laboratory investigating the issues of
nuclear reprocessing
Nuclear reprocessing is the chemical separation of fission products and actinides from spent nuclear fuel. Originally, reprocessing was used solely to extract plutonium for producing nuclear weapons. With commercialization of nuclear power, the ...
of
nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission.
Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable of undergoing ...
and of
radioactive waste.
Reactors
The site housed a number of the first generation French
UNGG reactors, all of which have been shut down. Since then, it has also operated two
heavy water reactors to produce
tritium. Cooling for all of the plants comes from the
Rhône river.
2011 explosion
On 12 September 2011, there was an explosion in an oven used to melt metallic waste of a
"weak and very weak" level of radioactivity, killing one person, and injuring four. The explosion happened in the
Centraco
Centraco (''"Centre nucléaire de traitement et de conditionnement"'', a French "nuclear installation for the treatment and conditioning" of radioactive waste), is a factory operated by the society for packaging radioactive waste and industrial ef ...
centre, used by Socodei, a sister company of
Électricité de France
Électricité de France S.A. (literally ''Electricity of France''), commonly known as EDF, is a French multinational electric utility company, largely owned by the French state. Headquartered in Paris, with €71.2 billion in revenues in 2 ...
.
A safety cordon was set up around the plant by fire officers because of the risk of leakage.
CEA VALRHO Marcoule
The CEA in Marcoule have numerous laboratories and research institutes which carry out research into;
* Nuclear reactor waste recycling
* Future nuclear reactor technology (including a fourth generation prototype reactor to be ready by 2030)
*
Nuclear decommissioning
Nuclear decommissioning is the process whereby a nuclear facility is dismantled to the point that it no longer requires measures for radiation protection.
The presence of radioactive material necessitates processes that are potentially occupat ...
technology
A science museum for the general public, Visiatome Marcoule, devoted to energy issues is located by the Marcoule site.
While most facilities are located at the main Marcoule site, a small number of facilities at Pierrelatte (located close at the
Tricastin Nuclear Site) do also belong to the Marcoule Nuclear Site.
In 2007 over 500 million euros was spent supporting the work of the 30 laboratories.
[http://www-marcoule.cea.fr/home/liblocal/docs/UCAP/PORTAIL/Plaquette%20CEA%20Marcoule%20en%20bref.pdf ]
Gallery
File:Marcoule Site 1.jpg
File:Marcoule Site 2.jpg
File:Marcoule Site 3.jpg
References
External links
The French Nuclear Safety Authority - French Nuclear Safety AuthorityVisiatome Marcoule
science museum
G2 (and G3)
Nuclear Engineering International wall chart, December 1959
{{authority control
Energy infrastructure completed in 1956
Nuclear research institutes in France
Nuclear history of France
Nuclear technology in France
Military nuclear reactors
Buildings and structures in Gard
Former nuclear power stations in France
Nuclear power stations with closed reactors
Nuclear reprocessing sites