Status of reactor decommissioning in France

In France, decommissioning nuclear reactors and nuclear power plants is not supervised by public authorities. Consequently, operators are free to modify individual steps in line with the progress of decommissioning work. However, once a decision has been taken to decommission a plant, it may not be revoked. In France, six gas-cooled graphite-moderated reactors are at present in varying stages of decommissioning. A key factor in these activities is the combusiton of the graphite core in a fluidized bed, for the residual volume of radioactive waste for final storage will be reduced to 2 or 1% of the original graphite volume. This step is the subject of a pilot project at Le Creusot carried out jointly by EdF and CEA. The graphite combustion plant is to be built in Marcoule in 1993 with a maximum throughout of 1000 t/a. (orig.)