[en] After the Blayais incidents, Electricite de France revalues the nuclear power plants protection against natural disasters. Eight sites form the subject for new dispositions linked to flood risks. (N.C.)

[en] Face to local controversy, the government has preferred to stop the mission of three experts in charge of studying the possibilities to establish a laboratory in granites formation. (N.C.)

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[en] The storage center for very low-level radioactive wastes is due to open in mid summer 2003. This site situated in the Aube department covers an area of 45 hectares and is made up of a series of clay compartments that will house the wastes. This center is dimensioned to receive a total volume of 650000 m³ of wastes at a rate of 25000 tons a year for 30 years. The investment represents 40 million euros and the cost for waste producers will be 250 euros a ton. 80% of the wastes will come from the dismantlement of nuclear facilities and 20% from fertilizer manufacturers. This article shows a section of an equipped clay compartment. (A.C.)

[en] A series of mini drawings illustrates how nuclear energy outperforms other energy sources in terms of the minimization of carbon releases, the steel consumption per MWh, the sparing of natural resources, the protection of bio-diversity and the air quality. (A.C.)

[en] The European Commission proposes changes in the ancient European directive on nuclear safety in order to europeanize nuclear safety. The first proposal is to submit all European nuclear facilities to a control every 6 years by a board of foreign experts. Another proposal is to impose that every new power plant should be designed so that the radiological impact of an accident should be limited to the facility itself. The same proposal would impose for every nuclear plant the presence of an emergency center resistant to radiation, earthquakes and floods. The reporting of any incident occurring in a nuclear plant would be made compulsory. The decision to extend the operating life of a nuclear plant would be suspended to the results of a compulsory safety test. (A.C.)

[en] A recent discovery shows the presence of the remains of multicellular organisms in rocks dating back 2.1*10⁹ years which is far older than acknowledged till now. The discovery took place in Gabon near the Oklo natural reactor. The author raises the hypothesis that the passage from unicellular to multicellular organisms may have been triggered by the radiation released by uranium which was present in water at that time and began to accumulate in the sediment layers that will form the basis of the Oklo reactor millions of years later. (A.C.)

[en] The French authorities of nuclear safety (ASN) have announced that they were asked by the ATMEA company to review the safety options of a new power reactor called ATMEA-1. ATMEA is a common sub-company between Areva and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. ATMEA-1 belongs to the intermediate power range with a power output of 1100 MWe, this reactor is designed to be exported. ASN will make public the conclusions of this review in autumn 2011. ASN backs the WENRA initiative that states that the safety levels of new reactors must be higher than those of today's operating reactors. (A.C.)

[en] In december 2010 IAEA gave its agreement for the creation of a nuclear fuel bank. This bank will allow IAEA to help member countries that renounce to their own uranium enrichment capacities. This bank located on one or several member countries will belong to IAEA and will be managed by IAEA and its reserve of low enriched uranium will be sufficient to fabricate the fuel for the first load of a 1000 MW PWR. Fund raising has been successful and the running of the bank will have no financial impact on the regular budget of the IAEA. Russia has announced the creation of the first nuclear fuel bank. This bank will be located on the Angarsk site (Siberia) and will be managed by IAEA and will own 120 tonnes of low-enriched uranium fuel (between 2 and 4.95%), this kind of fuel is used in most Russian nuclear power plants. (A.C.)

[en] The safety experts of the Areva group have worked on the definition of a hard core of safety measures necessary to assure the vital functions in any situation (event the most unlikely) of the following nuclear facilities: La Hague, Tricastin, Melox, and FBFC Romans. Areva proposes to reinforce its crisis management by deploying new equipment for the intervention and communication (pumps, robots, diesel sets, measuring devices, satellite phone...). More than 1500 people with training and skills related to nuclear crisis will be able to help local teams on nuclear facilities if necessary. Areva has announced that it will invest more than 2 billion euros for upgrading the industrial plants, the implementation of new technologies and the improvement of safety. (A.C.)