Marcoule Nuclear Site

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Marcoule Nuclear Site is a French nuclear complex near the towns of Chusclan and Codolet in the Gard department, about 25 km northwest of Avignon on the Rhône river. It has been run by the CEA (Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique) and Areva NC, and is known as CEA VALRHO Marcoule. The site began operations in the 1950s and hosted France’s early plutonium experiments. In the 1970s it expanded to include the Phénix fast breeder reactor, which operated until 2009. Today it is a major decommissioning site for old plants. Since 1995, the Melox plant at Marcoule has produced MOX fuel from uranium and plutonium oxides, with plutonium sent from La Hague. The ATALANTE laboratory researches nuclear reprocessing and waste management. The site also housed older reactors and, later, heavy-water reactors to produce tritium. Cooling comes from the Rhône river. In 2011 there was a fatal explosion at the nearby Centraco waste facility. Marcoule also hosts many laboratories and the Visiatome Marcoule science museum about energy. Some facilities at Pierrelatte near Tricastin are part of Marcoule. In 2007 the site invested over 500 million euros in about 30 laboratories.