Stichting Laka

Publicatie Laka-bibliotheek:
US MOX 'Lead Test Assembly' Controversy: Fabrication at Cadarach, France (2003)

Auteur	WISE Paris
Datum	juli 2003
Classificatie	3.01.0.40/01 (VS - MOX)
Voorkant

1. Introduction

The U.S. Government decided in April 2002 to terminate the immobilization track 
of the original "dual track" (mixed oxide fuel, or MOX and immobilization) to 
dispose of "surplus" military plutonium in favor of the more expensive "single track" 
MOX fabrication approach. The Duke Cogema Stone & Webster (DCS) joint venture, 
chosen in 1999 to develop industrial scale fabrication facilities for MOX fuel from 
weapons-grade plutonium and to provide reactors for MOX irradiation, thus was 
charged with a larger MOX disposition program than earlier anticipated.

Following repeated delays in the implementation of the MOX fuel path, the U.S. 
administration began to pursue a European option for the fabrication of MOX Lead 
Test Assemblies (LTAs). Under the "Eurofab" option, weapons-grade plutonium 
would be transported across the U.S to an east coast port then shipped overseas to 
Europe, guarded by an armed escort vessel. LTAs would be produced in a European 
MOX fabrication facility using the weapons-grade plutonium, then shipped back to 
the U.S. to undergo test irradiation in one of the Duke Power reactors designated to 
use MOX on a commercial scale.

For political, technical and regulatory reasons, the project first focused on 
Belgonucleaire's PO plant in Dessel, Belgium. In July 2002, the indefinite delay of 
the Belgian government decision on the issue turned the focus on the ATPu plant in 
Cadarache, France, presented as the second best option. Meanwhile, the French 
government and COGEMA, the operator of ATPu, have decided on the definitive 
closure of this old plant by 31 July 2003, in particular due to its poor anti-seismic 
design standards.

The French government has never stated publicly that it has been approached by the 
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to consider fabricating LTAs at Cadarache. This 
leads to a perfectly contradictory situation. On one hand, there is no indication that 
the low-paced closure process at Cadarache rules out the technical possibility of a 
decision to proceed with the LTA fabrication at ATPu. But on the other hand, it is 
obvious that such a decision would add to technical, regulatory and safety concerns 
that have led to the shut-down decision of ATPu in the first place.

The following paper assesses the nature and background of the Cadarache option. 
The document also analyzes, from a political, regulatory and technical point of view, 
the reasons why the LTA project targeted PO in Dessel and ATPu in Cadarache. It 
discusses the range of problems posed by the project to produce LT As at ATPu 
and highlights the controversy that this proposal has stimulated.

Deze publicatie is alleen op papier bij Laka beschikbaar, niet als pdf.
Publicaties zijn te leen of informeer of we een kopie kunnen maken. Soms, als we tijd hebben, lukt dat tegen kostprijs van de kopieën.