Licensing a facility: the MELOX example

The aim of this paper is to present, through its regulatory and technical aspects, the follow-up of the licensing process for an important civilian nuclear facility. The example chosen for this presentation is the MELOX plant, located a the Marcoule site. This plant is designed to produce fuel assemblies for pressurized water reactors, from a mixture of uranium and plutonium oxides. All the provisions concerning design, construction and operation that were settled to ensure the prevention of risks have been submitted to systematic safety analyses and a rigorous follow-up by the safety authorities. At the end of a procedure that involved a public inquiry and the consultation of local authorities and a group of technical experts, operation of the MELOX facility was authorized