At the FBFC Romans site, while preparing an operation to manufacture fuel elements for a research reactor, an operator grouped together three baskets of fuel plates* at a workstation.
The mass of uranium present at this workstation therefore exceeded the mass authorized in the baseline safety standards for operation.
The anomaly was rapidly detected by the operating team and the baskets were separated in order to return the masses of material to a compliant state.
This anomaly had no impact on personnel or the environment.
FBFC Romans proposed a classification to the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) of level 1 on the INES scale, which is graduated up to 7.
* A fuel plate is a part which measures 10 cm wide by 1 m long and consists of a thin layer of uranium sealed between two aluminum plates. These plates, once assembled, form the fuel elements used in research reactors.
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