nuclear-news

NON à ASTRID !

Dans le cadre de la loi du 13 juillet 2005 sur le développement des technologies des réacteurs nucléaires du futur et des technologies nécessaires à une gestion durable des déchets nucléaires, la France a donné la priorité à la technologie des RNR-Na et décidé de construire le réacteur ASTRID pour démontrer la capacité de la filière àtransmuter les actinides mineurs à l’échelle industrielle. En 2010, le C.E.A. a reçu 651,6 M€ pour élaborer l’Avant Projet Détaillé du réacteur.

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France experienced nothing but nightmares with its 20th century experiment with fast breeder reactor technology. I covered this topic previously in a series of translations of French documents about the Superphénix reactor failure: Superphénix Part 1, Superphénix Part 2, andSuperphénix Part 3.

The first time around, the French fast breeder reactor was met with vigorous resistance by protesters. In 1977, 60,000 protesters assembled on the construction site and were met by riot police. One fatality ensued and there were other injuries of protesters and police. During construction, a small cell of eco-warriors attacked the reactor with a bazooka. They hoped to destroy the reactor vessel before it was loaded with fuel, but the missile missed the mark. In 2003, a Swiss member of parliament confessed to the deed after the statute of limitations had passed. To this day, some pro-nuclear advocates use this case as proof that some in the ecology movement are dangerous radicals who would cause a nuclear disaster to prove their point. One may disagree with the tactic, but one thing that should be understood about this attack is that it was deliberately carried out before nuclear materials were loaded into the reactor. There was no intention to cause a nuclear disaster.

After the Superphénix reactor was switched on, it was plagued with technical problems and cost overruns. The government shut it down and decommissioning work began in 1997. The job is set to last another 20 years at least. Nonetheless, the French breeder reactor is back like an undead beast that needs to be continually fed then beaten back into the grave by vigilant citizens. Incredibly, France, Britain and Japan are co-operating on this project as if it’s a Three Stooges movie. France brings its expertise with the failed Superphénix reactor, Britain shares its valuable experience in ecological contamination from Sellafield, and Japan feels it has a contribution to make with the lessons learned from its Monju boondoggle. Like nuclear waste itself, the dream of the perfectibility of nuclear technology is persistent, indestructible and toxic.

The text that follows is a translation of a report on the latest incarnation of the fast breeder reactor.

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Astrid, 4th Generation Reactor: Miracle Technology or Dangerous Chimera?

Originally published in French by Sortir du Nucléaire, May 2014: Le réacteur Astrid: miracle technologique ou dangereuse chimère ?…….  http://nf2045.blogspot.jp/2014/05/long-night-of-living-dead-superphenix.html