The Atomic Energy Commission spotted on the Cadarache site deposits of plutonium greater than its forecasts. "Enough to make about five nuclear bombs," according to Greenpeace.
The Minister of Ecology Jean-Louis Borloo demanded Wednesday, October 14 "the most complete transparency" after it was discovered in a workshop being dismantled at the site of the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique de Cadarache that the quantity of stored plutonium had been greatly underestimated. The incident, which would have been hidden for more than three months, was classified at level 2 on the international scale of seriousness of nuclear events by the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN).
In a press release, Jean-Louis Borloo "deeply regrets that such a delay has elapsed between the discovery of this situation and his declaration". "This transparency and this security requirement are the essential conditions for the supply of electricity of nuclear origin. They will be respected," he promises.
"One of the most critical situations"
"We believe that the discovery at Cadarache of several kilos of plutonium having escaped any inventory constitutes one of the most serious and critical situations that we have encountered in a nuclear installation for a long time. It is simply mind-blowing" reacted the head of the energy / nuclear campaign of Greenpeace France, Yannick Rousselet. "Abandoned reprocessing uranium in Russia, kilos of plutonium forgotten in Cadarache: how dare the nuclear industry claim that it manages its waste?" wonders the environmental organization in a press release.
The CEA Cadarache (Bouches-du-Rhône) is one of the nine research centers of the French Atomic Energy Commission.
Operated by Areva, this plutonium technology workshop (ATPu), "which has been permanently shut down and being dismantled since early 2009", specifies the Ministry of Ecology, "had for main activity the production of MOX fuel for nuclear reactors "but its decommissioning had been decided" because the level of safety no longer corresponded to the requirements expected today ".
Suspension of work
CEA Cadarache informed ASN on 6 October that the plutonium deposits in the glove boxes, which provide secure access to a containment chamber in which nuclear material is used, had been under- evaluated, explains the Authority. "Evaluated at around 8kg during the period of operation of the installation, the deposits recovered to date are, according to the CEA, of the order of 22kg and the CEA estimates that the total quantity could amount to nearly 39kg ", specifies ASN.
Greenpeace recalls through the voice of Yannick Rousselet that it is "a material so dangerous that it must be legally measured to the nearest gram", and is surprised "that we discover in an old workshop closed for six years about what to do about five nuclear bombs ".
After inspection, ASN decided on Monday to classify the event at level 2 of the international scale of gravity of nuclear events (Ines scale) which includes 7. It also decided to suspend all dismantling operations in the installation which cannot resume without its agreement.
Security breach
Three days after the report by the CEA, an inspection of the installation took place on October 9. However, this "made it possible to confirm that the CEA had been aware of the incident since June 2009", according to ASN.
"The incident had no consequences", assures the ASN, but the "underestimation of the quantity of plutonium had led to a sharp reduction in the safety margins intended to avoid a criticality accident, the potential consequences of which for the workers can be important ”. The risk of "criticality" is that of a nuclear chain reaction when too much fissile material is gathered in one place.
ASN considers that "the failure to detect this underestimation during the period of operation of the installation, as well as the late notification of this event to ASN, reveal a gap in the safety culture. of the operator and the industrial operator of the installation ".
(Nouvelobs.com with AP)
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