Eurodif dismantling reaches milestone

AREVA Inc. announced Thursday that the Tricastin site in France has reached a dismantling milestone for the Eurodif enrichment facility.

The company states that it has completed the rising phase of gaseous diffusion at the facility, and that its final extraction of uranium hexafluoride from gaseous diffusion equipment took place on Oct. 5. This puts operations several weeks ahead of their anticipated schedule.

“We have demonstrated our expertise during this key step in preparation phase of the dismantling of Eurodif,” AREVA Tricastin site director Frederic De Agostini said. “These operations have taken place during a complex period for the social transition of Eurodif, during which maintaining the expertise and adapting the workforce to the project workload remain our priorities in terms of safety and security.”

With this step completed, the number of chemical and nuclear materials at the facility has been significantly reduced to ensure safe operations for subsequent dismantling activity.

The Eurodif enrichment facility has seen slower operations as the Georges Besse II (GBII) facility has taken on more uranium enrichment activity, dating back to 2011. The GBII facility uses newer processes and technology to produce enriched uranium in an efficient and economical way.