Plutonium escapes CEA Cadarache inventory

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recyclinage
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Plutonium escapes CEA Cadarache inventory




by recyclinage » 15/10/09, 11:36

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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by Christophe » 15/10/09, 11:40

Christophe wrote:Is it a joke or what? Underestimate the amount of Pu in a public laboratory by 3 to 5 times ???

Beware of Lybians in Volkswagen !!! (Back to the future) Hihihhiih : Mrgreen:

Hey there is a Back to the Future mod for GTA: http://www.moddb.com/mods/back-to-the-f ... ll-valley/


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by Christophe » 15/10/09, 20:21

Attention, here is what could have happened to the distracted employees of the CEA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHnQ5l-xfKM

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by elephant » 16/10/09, 00:01

Why ? is there really a reason that an atomic power plant is different from a garage where everyone tinkers in stoumelinckx (Belgian expression which means hiding, smuggling) on ​​his side after hours?
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by jonule » 19/10/09, 10:37

Q: No one reacts children?

A: yes, because it is an activity that should be responsible because it pollutes

responsible, what does that mean? and sustainable?

when there is no more uranium in circulation or to be pressed and the valves of the distributors are being closed like gas there will be plutonium, for those who have done the conversion;
for the others it will be necessary to build plutonium plants so buy these plants, that's the goal of the game.

what is stupid for the human race is that plutonium is incommensurate number of times more polluting than uranium, and that polluting activities and toxic for the environment always end up falling back into the food chain of man, and his children ...

traffic highlighted in this case of the CEA of Cadarache, at the moment it is the same traffic which takes place in Iran, they are put in evidence with the hand in the bag and then? they are industrialists, they don't know or don't care how polluting it is, as long as it brings in money?

a French invention?

plutonium was never originally on earth, this poison was made from scratch by human hands, which makes it an artificial material from scratch, and not an ore.

there has never been one in the soil of the Vosges, Brittany or in poorly ventilated cellars: the problem will be harder to hide for ordinary people ... mortals.

and after plutonium, what other polluting radio-toxic radio-nuclide is created? how many elements are they added to Mandeleiev's table? how many millions of years will these nanoparticles directly assimilated into the blood by the pulmonary tracts roam to pollute our environment?

I wonder ...

here is where the mercantile spirit goes, when it is relayed by the simplest of ignorances.

who will serve industrially and economically speaking, in terms of activity (because for the power in megawatts it's zero) ITER or EPR projects?

@ good hearer, a nuclear power plant is declared by the government set up, good for the planet because it does not emit CO2 (just counting the combustion), or is the ecological footprint responsible for the self-criticism of this forum awake?

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by Aumicron » 20/10/09, 10:08

Almost a week after the revelation of the discovery at CEN Cadarache, what's new?

Chantal Jouanno, Secretary of State for Ecology, said to himself "amazed and even outraged"and said:

It is completely abnormal that on this sector which one says extremely controlled, one discovers that the accounting is badly kept, that one does not know exactly how much there is (of plutonium) and especially that one is informed of it so late

...

It is unacceptable that Jean-Louis Borloo has not been informed since June

...

We are going to see who is responsible for what and that will allow us to know whether heads should fall

Words full of common sense, but what action plan behind with what (s) evolution (s) to expect? Wait and see.

From my point of view, Cadarache (and many nuclear related sites) are NON-RIGHT AREAS therefore little hope of seeing things change.
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the CEA asked to clarify its assessment, ...




by recyclinage » 20/10/09, 10:33

Cadarache: the CEA asked to clarify its assessment of the quantities of plutonium

(AFP) - 15 hours ago

PARIS - The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) asked the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) on Monday to clarify its methods for assessing the quantities of plutonium residue contained in a building being dismantled at the Cadarache site (Bouches -du-Rhône).

ASN criticizes the CEA for having taken more than three months to report a major under-evaluation of plutonium residues in the Plutonium Technology Workshop (ATPu), the dismantling of which, undertaken since March, has been suspended.

The concentration of plutonium in some "glove boxes" (confined spaces where radioactive materials were handled) was close to the threshold from which a nuclear reaction could have started, exposing workers to severe radiation.

When the first 150 glove boxes were dismantled, 22 kg of plutonium residue was collected, according to the CEA, which estimates that the remaining 300 glove boxes should not contain more than 17 kg. Early forecasts limited to 8 kg total amount of expected residues.

"I ask you to tell me about the methodology adopted in operation to estimate the masses of fissile material in retention," indicates the letter addressed to the director of the Cadarache center, which follows the inspection of October 9.

After this inspection, ASN had classified the incident as level 2 on the international INES scale, a level rarely reached (one incident in March 2009, none in 2008).

"Your representatives declared that the masses of fissile material remaining to be collected were estimated on the day of the inspection, by means of visual observations, inspections by camera, and for the few stations allowing it, by specific measurements The reliability of these evaluation methods could not be specified, ”the letter said.

ASN also asks CEA to specify "the distribution of the subject within the workstations". The most heavily loaded box contained 10 kilos of plutonium dust instead of the 1,8 expected before dismantling began.

The CEA will also have to draw up an inventory of the security of all the workstations concerned and respond on all points by 20 November at the latest.

ASN will then authorize, or not, the resumption of the dismantling of ATPu, an installation over 40 years old.

Copyright © AFP 2009. All rights reserved.


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by jonule » 21/10/09, 09:44

Aumicron wrote:Words full of common sense, but what action plan behind with what (s) evolution (s) to expect? Wait and see.

From my point of view, Cadarache (and many nuclear related sites) are NON-RIGHT AREAS therefore little hope of seeing things change.


this kind of defeatist tends only to trivialize this kind of mafia crime which is punishable by prison and a fine.
popularizing this traffic should not be a soft consensus, Aumicron; you have to let those who fight against (I admire them) if not join them, but not trivialize their actions.
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by Aumicron » 21/10/09, 11:28

jonule wrote:this kind of defeatist tends only to trivialize this kind of mafia crime which is punishable by prison and fine

My words are not defeatist, they are realistic.

You say that "this kind of mafia crime is punishable by prison and a fine"but no one will be imprisoned and will not pay any fine, so you confirm my words, we are in the context of a NO RIGHT AREA

I do not trivialize in any case the actions of those who fight against, I say that these actions are ineffective since Cadarache at 50 years and that this type of center always escapes any control on the part of the civil society.

I am personally against nuclear power but I do not see any concrete actions having a positive effect in the fight against nuclear power.

The nuclear debate does not exist in our society.
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by Aumicron » 27/10/09, 10:00

New revelation at Cadarache. This time it is uranium in quantity higher than the estimates.

http://www.enviro2b.com/2009/10/26/nucl ... cadarache/

They are lucky in Cadarache. I never find a 100 euro note at the bottom of my drawers.
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