Safety Inspectors at French Site After Release Of Natural Uranium Solution
Written by NucNet
Wednesday, 09 July 2008
NucNet News No. 54
9 Jul (NucNet): An incident in southern France when a solution
containing 12 grams of natural uranium per litre entered the rainwater
drainage system after overflowing from a tank had only "limited and
falling" environmental impact, plant operator Socatri said yesterday.
France's Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), which has had an inspector at the site since yesterday, said the radiological consequences for the population "should be negligible".
Socatri, which specialises in chemical and radioactive effluent treatment with uranium recovery and related services amongst other activities on the Tricastin nuclear site, said some 30 cubic metres of the solution flowed onto the floor at its plant and into the drainage system overnight on 7 and 8 July 2008. The solution contained a total of about 360 kilograms of natural uranium.
However, Socatri said environmental checks initiated immediately after the event showed no abnormal levels of natural uranium in the two lakes in the vicinity of the site.
Socatri said that at the end of yesterday afternoon environmental checks indicated no abnormal levels of natural uranium in the two lakes in the vicinity of the site and has proposed that France's Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) classifies the incident as level 1 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES). Decontamination of the floors and channels concerned at the plant has begun.
The ASN said yesterday that it will carry out an inspection of the Socatri plant on 10 July to determine the precise causes of the event.
ASN said regional authorities had been involved in environmental monitoring and precautionary measures were put in place. In particular, local authorities banned fishing and bathing in the concerned zone and use of surface water for irrigation. "The results of water sample analyses have shown the environmental impact, notably in the La Gaffière waterway that crosses the site, to be limited and falling," ASN added. "A return to normal conditions is expected in the coming days."
The incident attracted wide international media coverage last night when two French associations 'Sortir du nucléaire' (abandon nuclear) and 'Commission de Recherche et d'Information Indépendantes sur la Radioactivités' (CRIIRAD - commission on independent research and information of radioactivity) claimed that the authorities were late in giving information about the incident and were hiding the real consequences.
Tricastin is also the site where construction of The Enrichment Technology Company's (ETC) uranium enrichment plant Georges Besse II is under way. ETC is a 50-50 joint venture of the Areva group and Urenco.
- by John Shepherd
Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Areva And Urenco Venture Prepares Way For New Enrichment Plant (News No. 146, 4 July 2006)
French Enrichment Plant On Course To Start Operations In 2009 (News in Brief No. 18, 20 February 2008)
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