(November 19, 1993) The long history of disposal of all kinds of wastes on former uranium mine and mill sites is to be enriched by a new proposal: Frances' nuclear fuel company COGEMA wants to store depleted uranium (DU) at the site of the uranium mill of Bessines-sur-Gartempe near Limoges.
(402.3917) WISE Amsterdam - The depleted uranium is a residue of the Eurodif Tricastin gaseous diffusion enrichment plant in the Rhône valley. It contains a residual contents of uranium-235 of 0.2 to 03 percent and has the chemical form of uranium hexafluonide (UF6). But COGEMA doesn't call it waste and wants to store it I or possible future use. The company hopes that the stored DU will be useful at some later date, if, for instance, future enrichment techniques allow for economic extraction of the residual uranium-235, or uranium prices rise significantly.
For storage, the UF6 is to be converted to the chemically more stable form of U3O8 at COGEMAs Pierrelatte facility. Then it is to be transported by rail to the Bessines site and stored as a powder in iron containers. The containers (8.5 or 11 tonnes each) are to be stored in 11 special storage buildings of 3000 m each. Each building will be able to bold 2500 containers. The total storage capacity will be around 265,000 tonnes of DU. The maximum dose that an individual would be exposed to at the fence of the facility, is calculated at 0.7 mSv (70 mrem) per year, far below the (extremely high) French limit of 5 mSv for the public.
The Bessines uranium mill ceased operation in July 1993, after its associated uranium deposits were worked out or could not be mined any more under the current uranium market conditions. So the area now faces high unemployment of former miners and any kind of new business is welcome. Knowing this, COGEMA now offers to build that DU disposal facility. The total investment is planned at 60 million French francs (appr. US$10 million) over a period of 15 years.
The storage of DU at the Bessines site is only the first of a series of proposals made by COGEMA: others are for the treatment and storage of thorium wastes from the Cadarache facility, treatment of mercury-containing wastes, and storage of natural uranium (yellow cake).
Source: Peter Diehl, 11 Nov. 1993
Contact: CRII-Rad Marche Limousin, Beaulieu, F-87470 Peyrat-le-Chateau, France. Phone: + 33-55-694606.