The Chooz A reactor dismantling project - 59363

Document available in abstract form only. Full text of publication follows: Located in the Ardennes next to the Meuse River, Chooz A nuclear power plant was the first Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) built in France (1963). Its a 305 MW NPP and it produced electricity from 1967 until 1991 (38 TWh). Chooz A NPP was permanently shut down in 1993 and the fuel was removed. The complete dismantling decree was published in September 2007. According to this decree, the dismantling is spilt into 3 main steps: first step: dismantling of all the nuclear equipment (2008 to 2015), second step: tritium ratio decrease monitoring.(2015-2017), third step: dismantling of the equipment needed for gathering. Filling of the underground buildings with concrete. In 2010 the dismantling of the circuits connected to the vessel commenced. On Monday, the 1 February, the first steam generator was extracted and prepared to be decontaminated. Steam generators and the primary circuit will be decontaminated before being transported in one piece to the French nuclear waste storage facility. Once the decontamination is complete, the vessel dismantling will begin: this will be another important step for the project. (authors)