EDF will study an irradiation service, at the request of the State in support of the CEA

“EDF was contacted by the State to provide an irradiation service at the Civaux nuclear power plant, in support of the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). An irradiation service consists of inserting material into the reactor core to make it radioactive,” the group said. Sébastien Lecornu, the Minister of the Armed Forces, visited the Civaux power plant (Vienna) this Monday afternoon. An agreement will be signed between the Ministry of the Armed Forces and EDF. The service will be paid, but its economic impact will be “anecdotal” for the group. It is still too early to talk about job creation.

“The goal is to provide redundancy in relation to CEA resources. Our mission does not change, it is still the production of electricity,” explains Etienne Dutheuil, director of nuclear production at EDF. This activity will be in addition to the group's main mission. “The quantity of radioactive material is not changed and the transport of this material will be done in dedicated containers.” The only nuclear power plant in the park concerned is that of Civaux, selected for technical reasons and it is also the youngest in the park, with a maximum operating life. The two Civaux reactors will be affected.

From a technical point of view, material to be irradiated will be inserted between the rods of the fuel assembly, which is loaded into the cores of the nuclear reactor. It will remain for an entire combustion cycle, will be dismantled, placed in CEA containers which will take them to its own facilities. This will be carried out during a stop at Civaux in 2025. “This activity is similar to the one we already have. But this will slightly modify the parameters of the reactor, it will therefore be necessary to carry out a safety notification and the Nuclear Safety Authority will give - or not - authorization to carry out this operation,” adds Etienne Dutheil. The project will not change the operation of the reactor.

The irradiation of this material is carried out today by the CEA, for “national defense” purposes. Other irradiation projects concerning civil applications are underway, particularly for medical applications, in partnership with Westinghouse. Other reactors around the world carry out this same type of activity for Defense.