| Marcoule Nuclear Power Plant | |
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| Country | France |
| Location | Chusclan and Codolet communes |
| Coordinates | |
| Status | Decommissioned |
| Construction began | 1952 |
| Commission date | January 7, 1956 |
| Decommission date | June 20, 1984 |
| Operator(s) | EDF/CEA |
| Reactor information | |
| Reactors decom. | 1 x 2 MW 2 x 38 MW |
| Reactor supplier(s) | SACM |
| Turbine manufacturer(s) | Rateau |
| Power generation information | |
| Net generation | 11,346 GW·h |
| As of September 12, 2011 | |
Marcoule Nuclear Site (French: Site nucléaire de Marcoule) is a nuclear plant in the Chusclan and Codolet communes, near Bagnols-sur-Cèze in the Gard department of France, which is in the touristic, wine and agricultural Côtes-du-Rhône region. The plant is around 25 km north west of Avignon, on the banks of the Rhone.
Operational since 1956, Marcoule is a gigantic site run by the atomic energy organization Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique (CEA) and Areva NC and is known as CEA VALRHO Marcoule. The first industrial and military plutonium experiments took place in Marcoule. Diversification of the site was started in the 1970s with the creation of the Phénix prototype fast breeder reactor, which was operational until 2009, and is nowadays an important site for decommissioning nuclear facilities activities. The Phénix reactor is likely to be succeeded by the sodium-cooled fast reactor ASTRID (Advanced Sodium Technical Reactor for Industrial Demonstration) in the 2015-2020 time frame.
Since 1995, the MELOX factory has been producing MOX from a mix of uranium and plutonium oxides. MOX is used to recycle plutonium from nuclear fuel; this plutonium comes from the COGEMA La Hague site.
The ATelier Alpha et Laboratoires pour ANalyses, Transuraniens et Etudes de retraitement (ATALANTE) is a CEA laboratory investigating the issues of nuclear reprocessing of nuclear fuel and of radioactive waste.
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The site housed a number of the first generation French UNGG reactors, of which have all been shut down. Since then, it has also operated a pressurized water reactor to produce [tritium]]. Cooling for all of the plants comes from the Rhône river.
| Unit | Type | Net power | Total power | Construction start | Construction finish | Commercial operation | Shut down |
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| Marcoule G1[1] | UNGG | 2 MW | 1955 | 07.01.1956 | - | 15.10.1968 | |
| Marcoule G2[2] | UNGG | 39 MW | 43 MW | 01.03.1955 | 22.04.1959 | 22.04.1959 | 02.02.1980 |
| Marcoule G3[3] | UNGG | 40 MW | 43 MW | 01.03.1956 | 04.04.1960 | 04.04.1960 | 20.06.1984 |
| Phénix[4] | fast breeder | 130 MW | 142 MW | 01.03.1968 | - | 14.07.1974 | 01.02.2010 |
On 12 September 2011, there was an explosion in an oven used to melt metallic waste of a "weak and very weak" level of radioactivity, killing one person, and injuring four. The explosion happened in the Centraco centre, used by Socodei, a sister company of Électricité de France.[5][6] A safety cordon was set up around the plant by fire officers because of the risk of leakage.[5][6]
The CEA in Marcoule have numerous laboratories and research institutes which carry out research into[7];
The site is spread between the main Marcoule site and the smaller Pierrelatte site. In 2007 over 500 million euros was spent supporting the work of the 30 laboratories.[8]
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