The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) in France has requested Additional Studies on the project envisaged by EDF to build a large pool centralized in a place still not determined to store spent fuel, a spokesperson said Monday.
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“The ASN considers that the general safety objectives and the design options adopted are generally satisfactory,” the spokesperson said in a statement, after having studied the case for the centralized spent fuel storage pool project.
“However, additional studies and justifications are needed, especially concerning the design and control of manufacturing to ensure, over time, the tightness of the pool,” they added.
10,000 tons of heavy metal
ASN recalls that EDF has not yet chosen the place where it plans to install this pool “designed to store 10,000 tonnes of Heavy Metal, corresponding to about 21,000 fuel assemblies”. “Once the site has been selected, EDF will have to check that the levels of randomness selected for external aggression are appropriate,” they said.
While storage pools in La Hague (Manche) are likely to reach saturation levels by 2030, EDF plans to build a new basin.
In France, spent nuclear fuel is stored in a pool when it leaves the reactor very hot and radioactive, first a few years in the power plant and then on the Orano site in La Hague before their eventual treatment.
