AREVA wins contract to dismantle the vessel internals of the Superphénix reactor

AREVA announces the signature of a contract of several tens of millions of euros with EDF for the dismantling of the vessel internals of the Superphénix reactor in Creys-Malville.

The contract scope includes preliminary design, process qualification, manufacturing of tools and equipment dismantling. It also includes waste packaging, particularly highly radioactive waste. The work will be performed by AREVA’s Dismantling and Services business, a French leader in this segment. It is expected to run until 2024 and will mobilize more than 50 people during the peak period of work.

Cutting the vessel internals of the Creys-Malville reactor is an exceptional job, in two ways. As the first time such equipment is dismantled in a reactor of more than 1,000 MW in France, the operations will make use of leading-edge technologies developed specifically for this purpose. Due to the radiological environment of the facility, only remotely operated tools can be used, such as intervention robots and manipulator arms. Moreover, the complexity of the work requires accurate cutting of the different components. The technical teams at AREVA Dismantling and Services developed a laser cutting arm and a trajectory monitoring system that hugs the forms of the structure, facilitating the tele-operators’ work.

Alain Vandercruyssen, Director of AREVA Dismantling and Services, says “the pooling of AREVA’s know-how in dismantling, nuclear engineering and technical innovation allowed us to propose a customized solution to EDF that is a key differentiator. By becoming the leading industrial company to dismantle the vessel internals of a high-powered reactor in France, AREVA Dismantling and Services strengthens its position as the French leader in the nuclear deconstruction segment.”