Marcoule Nuclear Site

Marcoule Nuclear Power Plant

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Country| France
Location| Chusclan and Codolet communes
Coordinates|  [ ⚑ ] : 44°8′36″N 4°42′34″E﻿ / ﻿44.14333°N 4.70944°E﻿ / 44.14333; 4.70944
Status| Decommissioned
Construction began| 1952
Project commissioning| January 7, 1956
Decommission date| June 20, 1984
Operator(s)| EDF/CEA
Nuclear power station
Reactor supplier| SACM

[edit on Wikidata]

Marcoule Nuclear Site (French: Site nucléaire de Marcoule) is a nuclear facility in the Chusclan and Codolet communes, near Bagnols-sur-Cèze in the Gard department of France , which is in the tourist, wine and agricultural Côtes-du-Rhône region. The plant is around 25 km north west of Avignon, 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.

As of 2016[update] the Phénix reactor was planned to be succeeded by the sodium-cooled fast reactor ASTRID (Advanced Sodium Technical Reactor for Industrial Demonstration), foreseen to become operational in the 2030s.[1] However in 2019 the ASTRID project was closed.[2]

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 of nuclear fuel and of radioactive waste.

## Contents

* 1 Reactors
* 2 2011 explosion
* 3 CEA VALRHO Marcoule
* 4 Gallery
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## 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.

Unit  | Type  | Net power  | Total power  | Construction start  | Construction finish  | Full operation  | Shut down

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Marcoule G1[3] | UNGG | 2 MW |  | 1955 | 07.01.1956 |  | 15.10.1968
Marcoule G2[4] | UNGG | 39 MW | 43 MW | 01.03.1955 | 22.04.1959 | 22.04.1959 | 02.02.1980
Marcoule G3[5] | UNGG | 40 MW | 43 MW | 01.03.1956 | 04.04.1960 | 04.04.1960 | 20.06.1984
Celestin 1[6] | Tritium breeder |  |  |  |  | 1967 | 2009
Celestin 2 | Tritium breeder |  |  |  |  | 1968 | 2009
Phénix[7] | Fast breeder | 130 MW | 142 MW | 01.03.1968 |  | 14.07.1974 | 01.02.2010

## 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 centre, used by Socodei, a sister company of Électricité de France.[8][9] A safety cordon was set up around the plant by fire officers because of the risk of leakage.[8][9]

## CEA VALRHO Marcoule

The CEA in Marcoule have numerous laboratories and research institutes which carry out research into;[10]

* Nuclear reactor waste recycling
* Future nuclear reactor technology (including a fourth generation prototype reactor to be ready by 2030)
* Nuclear decommissioning 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.[11]

## Gallery

*   *   *

## References

1. ↑ "Ministries spar as Japan focuses on fast reactor project in France". Asahi Shimbun. 22 September 2016. http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201609220057.html. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
2. ↑ "France cancels ASTRID fast reactor project". Nuclear Engineering International. 2 September 2019. https://www.neimagazine.com/news/newsfrance-cancels-astrid-fast-reactor-project-7394432. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
3. ↑ Reference: Liste der Nuklearanlagen in Frankreich
4. ↑ "Nuclear Power Reactor Details - G-2 (MARCOULE)". Power Reactor Information System. International Atomic Energy Agency. http://www.iaea.org/cgi-bin/db.page.pl/pris.prdeta.htm?country=FR&site=MARCOULE&units=&refno=1B. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
5. ↑ "Nuclear Power Reactor Details - G-3 (MARCOULE)". Power Reactor Information System. International Atomic Energy Agency. http://www.iaea.org/cgi-bin/db.page.pl/pris.prdeta.htm?country=FR&site=MARCOULE&units=&refno=1. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
6. ↑ History The plant of Marcoule areva.com
7. ↑ "Nuclear Power Reactor Details - PHENIX". Power Reactor Information System. International Atomic Energy Agency. http://www.iaea.org/cgi-bin/db.page.pl/pris.prdeta.htm?country=FR&site=PHENIX&refno=10. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "France Nuclear: Marcoule Site Explosion Kills One". BBC News. 12 September 2011. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14883521. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Willsher, Kim (12 September 2011). "Explosion at French Nuclear Waste Plant". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/12/french-nuclear-plant-rocked-explosion. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
10. ↑ {fr}http://www-marcoule.cea.fr/scripts/home/publigen/content/templates/show.asp?P=134&L=FR&ITEMID=4
11. ↑ {fr}http://www-marcoule.cea.fr/home/liblocal/docs/UCAP/PORTAIL/Plaquette CEA Marcoule en bref.pdf

## External links

* The French Nuclear Safety Authority - French Nuclear Safety Authority
* Visiatome Marcoule, science museum
* G2 (and G3), Nuclear Engineering International wall chart, December 1959

* v
* t
* e

Nuclear power in France

Power plants|

| Active|

* Belleville
* Blayais
* Bugey
* Cattenom
* Chinon
* Chooz
* Civaux
* Cruas
* Dampierre
* Fessenheim
* Flamanville
* Golfech
* Gravelines
* Nogent
* Paluel
* Penly
* Saint-Alban
* Saint-Laurent
* Tricastin (Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux)

|

Closed|

* Brennilis
* Bugey 1
* Chinon (A1/A2/A3)
* Chooz A
* Creys-Malville SPX (Superphénix)
* Marcoule
* Saint-Laurent (A1/A2)

Reactor types|

| Power plant reactors|

* UNGG
* CP0, CP1, CP2, CPY
* P4, P'4
* N4
* EPR (under construction)

|

Research, experimental,
prototype reactors
and concepts|

* EL-1 (Zoé)
* EL-2, EL-3 (CEA Saclay)
* TFR
* EL-4 (Brennilis)
* Rapsodie
* Phénix
* Superphénix
* ITER (under construction)
* ASTRID
* Flexblue (concept)

Research locations|

* CEA Cadarache
* CEA Fontenay-aux-Roses
* CEA Grenoble
* Institut Laue–Langevin (Grenoble)
* CEA Marcoule (Marcoule, Pierrelatte)
* CEA Saclay
* Meuse/Haute Marne Underground Research Laboratory (Andra)
* Tricastin Nuclear Site (Bollène, Lapalud, Pierrelatte, Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux)

Fuel cycle locations|

* Malvési
* Tricastin
* Eurodif
* Romans (fr)
* La Hague
* Aube
* Manche
* Morvilliers

Organisations|

* ANCCLI
* Areva
* Naval Group (formerly DCNS)
* ASN
* CEA
* Électricité de France (EDF)
* Engie
* Framatome (formerly Areva NP)
* GSIEN
* Orano Group
* Orano Cycle (formerly COGEMA and Areva NC)

Public discourse
and opposition|

* Accidents and incidents
* Anti-nuclear movement in France
* 1999 Blayais Nuclear Power Plant flood
* Sébastien Briat
* André Larivière
* Corinne Lepage
* Stéphane Lhomme
* Jean-Pierre Petit
* Mycle Schneider
* Monique Sené
* Dominique Voynet
* CRIIRAD
* Groupement des scientifiques pour l'information sur l'énergie nucléaire
* Sortir du nucléaire
* WISE-Paris

Related categories|

* Nuclear energy in France
* Nuclear power stations in France
* Nuclear technology in France

List of nuclear reactors in France

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