New Areva said on 18 December that it had signed three contracts in recent months totalling nearly €9m ($10.6m) for the treatment and management of radioactive waste at sites belonging to the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in Fontenay-aux-Roses (Ile-de-France region) and Cadarache (Bouches-du-Rhône region).
The first is for the treatment of liquid chemical wastes of varying radiological intensity at the CEA site in Fontenay-aux-Roses, ranging from very-low-level to medium activity. The treatment consists of neutralising the different effluents through a series of processes to reduce their radiotoxicity before safe storage. These wastes are stored at the CEA site, awaiting removal for disposal or permanent storage.
The second contract, spanning a total of five years with possible extensions, is a renewal of the operating contract for the waste treatment station at Cadarache, which D&S has been operating on behalf of the CEA for several decades. It also includes the management of the waste packages as well as the general maintenance of the facility.
The third contract from the CEA in Cadarache was won at the beginning of November, to maintain the former effluent treatment station in a safe state. New Areva will support this facility for the next 40 months.
