Socodei melting - recycling and incineration facilities

Today in France, low level radwaste generated on nuclear sites are compacted and brought in metallic casks to the French shallow land burial site operated by ANDRA - Centre de l'Aube. Waste are coming from nuclear plants (EDF), reprocessing plants (COGEMA) and from laboratories (CEA) and hospitals. EDF and COGEMA have ascertained needs to limit low level radwaste volume and environmental impact of waste coming from their sites. Moreover, in July 1992, the French government enacted a law which assigned industrialists to enhance value of all their waste in order to get reusable materials from these so that only ultimate waste are land-filled. Hence, EDF and COGEMA have created SOCODEI to fulfill this issue and meet their needs. SOCODEI is commissioned to design, finance, build and operate two low level radwaste treatment facilities: a contaminated scrap metal melting unit, and a solid and liquid waste incinerator. These units frame a low level radwaste treatment centre named CENTRACO, located near Marcoule in southern France, and will receive in 1998 waste coming from dismantling, maintenance and operational activities of French and foreign nuclear sites. SOCODEI proposes on a single site, to optimise low level radwaste management and to reduce the volume of ultimate waste to be stored, including waste generated from the process in a ratio of ten to one by casting ingots coming from melting contaminated scrap metals; in a ratio of twenty to one by encapsulating bottom ashes and fly ashes resulting from incineration of solid and liquid waste. This is a centralized treatment centre and this is why CENTRACO is a new waste management system. Combining all methods in one place reduces costs, avoids mismanagement and hazards increase, and allows consistency in safety, environmental impact, transport and personnel radiation protection. (author)