Tricastin Nuclear Power Center

Infobox NPP
Pic_des = The cooling towers of Eurodif
Picture = Eurodif.jpg
Country = France
EIGENTÜMER = Electricité de France
Utility = Electricité de France
Built = 1974
Start = December 1, 1980
End =
Reactor = 4
S_Reactor =
Reactor_MW = 3,820
El_Prod = 25,105
for_year = 2006
El_Prod_avg = 24,622
Net_Prod = 608,986
WEBSITE =
as_of = July 27, 2007The Tricastin Nuclear Power Center is a collection of sites run by Areva and EDF located in 4 different communes Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux and Pierrelatte in Drôme, Bollène and Lapalud in Vaucluse, and four departments (Drome (26), Vaucluse (84), Gard (30) and Ardeche (07)) on right bank of the Channel of Donzère-Mondragon (diversion canal of the Rhone River) between Valence (70 km upstream) and Avignon (65 km downstream).

ites

Tricastin is one of the most important nuclear technology sites in the world, along with the COGEMA La Hague site. It is spread out over 600 hectacres with over 5000 employees. Some of the involved companies are:
* Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA) de Pierrelatte (A Nuclear weapons research facility)
* The EDF Nuclear Power Plant Tricastin (3,660 MWe total 915 MWe each)
* Comurhex (A Uranium fluoride conversion facility).
* Eurodif (Uranium enrichment up to 3.5%)

Nuclear reactors

The site houses 4 Pressurized water reactors of 915 MW each, which were built mostly in the 70s and brought online in the early 80s. These reactors produce about 25 TWh/year, or 6% of France's electricity, but about 2/3rds of that goes right back into the Eurodif Uranium enrichment factory. The close proximity of the power source and usage of the power allows for smaller transmission losses to occur, which is done at 225 kV.

Spent fuel is transported by train to the reprocessing plant, just as the new fuel is transported to the plant by train.

afety

Fire response

Tests on July 2, 2004 by the Autorité de sûreté nucléaire confirmed that response to a fire would take a time of 37 minutes. [cite web
url = http://www.asn.fr/sections/rubriquesprincipales/actualites/lettre-suite-d/inspection_inopinee_lutte_contre_l_incendie_003/downloadFile/file/INS_2004_EDFTRI_0023.pdf
title = Contrôle des installations nucléaires de base EDF – CNPE du Tricastin (INB n° 87/88) Inspection n° INS-2004-EDFTRI-0023 Lutte contre l'incendie
accessdate= 2008-07-10
author = Patrick Hemar
date = 2004-09-02
format= PDF
publisher = Autorité de sûreté nucléaire
language= French]

Cooling water

During the 2003 European heat wave from July 12 to July 22, the maximum dumping temperature of 27°C into the canal was exceeded on several occasions, totalling about 44 hours. [cite web
url = http://www.asn.fr/sections/rubriquesprincipales/actualites/avis-d-incident/2003/depassement-temperature8661
title = Dépassement de la température autorisée de rejet dans le canal de Donzère-Mondragon.
accessdate= 2008-07-10
author =
date = 2003-08-01
publisher = Autorité de sûreté nucléaire
language= French]

Incidents

In July 2008, 18,000 liters (4,755 Gallons) of Uranium solution containing natural uranium were accidentally released. Due to cleaning and repair work the containment system for a uranium solution holding tank was not functional when the tank filled. The inflow exceeded the tank's capacity and 30 cubic meters of Uranium solution leaked with 18 cubic meters spilled to the ground. Testing found elevated uranium levels in the nearby Gaffière and Lauzon rivers. The liquid that escaped to the ground contained about 75kg of unenriched uranium which is toxic as a heavy metal while possessing only slight radioactivity. Estimates for the releases were initially higher, up to 360kg of natural uranium, but revised downward later. [cite web
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/10/nuclearpower.pollution
title = River use banned after French uranium leak
publisher = The Guardian
assesdate = 10-7-2008
author = Angelique Chrisafis
date = 10-7-2008] Ground and surface water tests indicated that levels of radioactivity were 5% higher than the maximum rate allowed. In the near vicinity and above ground, the local watchdog group CRIIRAD has detected unusually high levels of radioactive radiation. [cite web
url = http://www.criirad.org/
title = Commission de Recherche et d'Information Indépendantes sur la Radioactivité
publisher = CRIIRAD]

French authorities have banned the use of water from the Gaffière and Lauzon for drinking and watering of crops. Swimming, water sports and fishing were also banned. This incident has been classified as Level 1 on the International Nuclear Event Scale [ [http://www.expatica.com/fr/articles/news/France-bans-water-consumption-over-nuclear-leak.html News France bans water consumption over nuclear leak - News from France - Expatica ] ] .

In July 2008, approximately 100 employees were exposed to radioactive particles that escaped from a pipe in a reactor that had been shut down. [cite web
url = http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10523246
title = French workers contaminated by nuclear leak
publisher = New Zealand Herald
assesdate = 24-7-2008
date = 2008-07-24] Aditionally, a nuclear waste leak that apparently had remained undiscovered since 2005 spilled into a concrete protective shell in Romans-sur-Isere. Areva, who owns the site, ensured that the leak had not caused harm to the environment, but the issue sparkled discussion [cite web
url = http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/depeches/infojour/reuters.asp?id=75232
title = Une nouvelle fuite d'uranium relance la controverse
publisher = L'Express (from Reuters)
assesdate = 18-08-2008
date = 2008-08-18] about an old French army terrain, where nuclear waste was deposited in shielded dumps. The layer of dirt covering the waste is reported to have been thinned due to wind and rain errosion, directly exposing nuclear waste material to open air. Also, the speed with which the Tricastin incident was reported to the Autorité de sûreté nucléaire (8 hours) and subsequently to local authorities (another 6 hours) is subject of ongoing discussions. The European Commissioner Andris Piebalgs may send inspectors to the sites to investigate recent events further.

EPR project

On February 15, 2007 the Le Soir newspaper announced that Suez was considering building a new European Pressurized Reactor at the Tricastin site, but the claim was denied by the SUEZ group. [cite web
url = http://www.lemoniteur-expert.com/depeches/depeche.asp?id=D72EE0C09&acces=0
title = Suez dément vouloir construire un réacteur EPR en France
accessdate= 2008-07-16
author =
date = 2007-02-15
publisher = Le Moniteur
language= French]

Naming

The Tricastin name is a tribute to the Celt Ligurian language (Romance). The capital was named "Augusta Tricastinorum" by Pline and Silius Italicus.

References