SEVERAL PLUTONIUM PROCESSING LINES BELONGING TO THE FUEL FABRICATION COMPLEX OF SFER-CADARACHE (SERVICE DE FABRICATION ET D'EXAMENS RADIOMETALLURGIQUES), HAVE TO BE DISMANTLED AFTER LONG SERVICE, IN THE FRAME OF PLANT MODERNISATION. AFTER DISCONNECTION FROM THE VENTILATION DUCTWORK AND EXTERNAL UTILITIES, THE GLOVE BOXES AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT ARE TRANSPORTED TO THE WASTE TREATMENT SERVICE OF THE CENTRE, SPPD/SAR (SERVICE DE PROTECTION, PREVENTION ET CONTROLE, SECTION D'ASSAINISSEMENT RADIOACTIF) FOR DISMANTLING, COMPACTING AND EMBEDDING IN CEMENT.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PLUTONIUM QUANTITIES THAT HAVE BEEN PROCESSED IN THESE NOW OBSOLETE LINES, THE VOLUME OF THE GLOVE BOXES TO BE DISMANTLED AND THE VARIETY OF THEIR FUNCTIONS MAKE IT OF GENERAL INTEREST TO ESTABLISH A BALANCE OF THE VOLUME AND PLUTONIUM CONTENT OF THE ARISING WASTES. THESE DATA ILL ENABLE THE EVALUATION OF THE WASTE MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS INVOLVED IN THE DECOMMISSIONING OF A INDUSTRIAL-SIZE MIXED-OXIDE FABRICATION FACILITY AS WELL AS IN DEFINING NOVEL DESIGN CRITERIA FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW FACILITIES. THEIR COLLECTION AND EVALUATION IS THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH ACTIVITY.

A CONCLUSIVE ASSESSMENT WILL GIVE AN ANSWER AS TO WHETHER THE APPLIED MEASURING AND WASTE COMPACTING TECHNIQUES ARE APPROPRIATE FOR THE PRESENT DECOMMISSIONING TASK.

B.1 DETERMINATION OF THE EXACT VOLUME OF THE GLOVE BOXES TO BE DISMANTLED AND DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT.
B.2.DETERMINATION OF THE EXACT VOLUMES OF THE WASTES GENERATED BY THE DISMANTLING.
B.3.PRELIMINARY ESTIMATION OF THE RESIDUAL PLUTONIUM IN THE GLOVE BOXES AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT BEFORE DISMANTLING.
B.4.MEASUREMENT OF THE PLUTONIUM CONTAINED IN THE WASTE DRUMS AFTER DISMANTLING.
B.5.IMPROVEMENT OF THE EXISTING PLUTONIUM MONITORING TECHNIQUES.
B.6.PREPARATION OF A CONCLUSIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE APPLIED MEASURING TECHNIQUES, AS WELL AS A BALANCE OF INVOLVED VOLUMES OF WASTE AND OF MASSES OF PLUTONIUM.