COGEMA La Hague site
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plutonium doesn't need a capital letter.
[[Image:UsineHague.jpg|350px|right|thumb|La Hague]]
The '''[[COGEMA]] La Hague site''' is a [[nuclear reprocessing|nuclear fuel reprocessing plant]] of [[AREVA]] in [[La Hague]] on the French [[Cotentin Peninsula]] that currently has nearly half of the world's [[light water]] reactor spent nuclear fuel reprocessing capacity. It has been in operation since [[1976]], and has a capacity of about 1700 tonnes per year. It produces [[MOX]] which is then recycled in the [[Marcoule]] site.
It treats spent nuclear fuel from [[France]], [[Japan]], [[Germany]], [[Belgium]], [[Switzerland]], [[Italy]] and the [[Netherlands]]. It processed 1100 tons in 2005. The non-renewable waste is eventually sent back to the user nation, as established under international law. Recovered plutonium is sent to [[Marcoule]] where [[MOX fuel]] is fabricated.
==History==
The La Hague site was built after the Marcoule site originally for producing plutonium for military purposes. In [[1969]] the [[French military]] had a sufficient supply of plutonium for weapons and as such, had no use for the reprocessing center any more. After that point, the factory directed its efforts toward civil operations, and with the reduction of 350 people from the plant's workforce, its military connections ended.
This shift to civil uses was supported by [[Valéry Giscard d'Estaing]] and strengthened by the [[1973 oil crisis]].
== Controversy surrounding radioactive releases ==
[[Greenpeace]] has been campaigning since 1997 for the shutdown of the site, which they claim dumps "one million litres of liquid radioactive waste per day" into the ocean; "the equivalent of 50 nuclear waste barrels", claiming the radiation affects local beaches.<ref>{{Cite web
| title = GREENPEACE INSTALLS WEBCAM AT THE END OF FRANCE'S NUCLEAR REPROCESSING DISCHARGE PIPE 'TO OPEN THE EYES OF GOVERNMENTS'
| work = Greenpeace website archive
| accessdate = 2007-08-26
| date = 2000-06-26
| url = http://archive.greenpeace.org/pressreleases/nucreprocess/2000jun26.html#one
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
| title = La Hague - France Nuclear Forces
| work = GlobalSecurity.org
| accessdate = 2007-08-26
| url = http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/france/la_hague.htm
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
| title = COGEMA DISCHARGE PIPE - Collection of related press releases
| work = Greenpeace website archive
| accessdate = 2007-08-26
| url = http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/no.nukes/reprohn.html
}}</ref> They have protested by creating roadblocks and chaining themselves to vehicles transporting materials to and from the site, demonstrating that they could determine which of the otherwise unmarked shipments were carrying plutonium by watching the facility for several weeks.<ref>{{Cite news
| last = Naegelen
| first = Jacky
| title = US Bomb-Grade Plutonium Convoy to Cross France
| work = Reuters
| accessdate = 2007-08-26
| date = 2004-10-07
| url = http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1007-05.htm
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
| title = Greenpeace blocks top secret transport of plutonium in France, revealing global proliferation threat is not in Iraq | Greenpeace International
| work = Greenpeace website
| accessdate = 2007-08-26
| date = 2003-02-19
| url = http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/releases/greenpeace-blocks-top-secret-t
}}</ref><ref name="fairley">{{Cite web
| last = Fairley
| first = Peter
| title = IEEE Spectrum: Nuclear Wasteland
| accessdate = 2007-08-26
| date = 2007-02
| url = http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/print/4891
}}</ref> Eric Blanc, deputy director of the processing plant, says that although the plant does intentionally release radioactive material, the annual dose in the vicinity of the plant is less than 20 [[microsievert]]s per year, which is equivalent to the dose of solar radiation received during a transatlantic flight.<ref name="fairley"/> The AREVA NC website emphasizes that they are committed to keeping the dose below 30 microsieverts per year.<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Zero impact commitment
| work = AREVA NC
| accessdate = 2007-08-26
| url = http://www.cogemalahague.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=cogema_en/common/gotopage&assetid=1039482706898&type=Page&callingpage=1039482706888
}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[Reprocessed uranium]]
* [[Mixed oxide fuel]]
* [[Nuclear power]] -> [[Nuclear fuel cycle]]
**[[Nuclear reprocessing]] -> [[PUREX]]
*'''Other Reprocessing Sites'''
**[[Thorp nuclear fuel reprocessing plant]]
**[[Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant]]
* [[West Valley Reprocessing Plant]]
== References ==
<references/>
==External links==
* [http://www.cogemalahague.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=cogema_en/Page/page_html_libre_full_template&c=Page&cid=1039482706828 La Hague Plant home page]
* [http://www.uic.com.au/nip72.htm Processing of Used Nuclear Fuel]
{{French nuclear power plants}}
{{coor title dms|49|40|42|N|1|52|46|W|region:FR-P_type:landmark}}
[[Category:Waste processing sites]]
[[Category:Radioactive waste]]
[[Category:Nuclear reprocessing]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Normandy]]
[[Category:Manche]]
[[Category:Nuclear technology in France]]
[[Category:Nuclear energy in France]]
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[[de:Wiederaufarbeitungsanlage La Hague]]
[[es:Centro de reprocesado de la Hague]]
[[fr:Usine de retraitement de la Hague]]