Nuclear deterrence: what is the tritium that EDF will produce in collaboration with the French army ?

La centrale nucléaire de Civaux a été choisie pour la production de tritium. ILLUSTRATION MAXPPP – Mathieu Pattier

Le ministère des Armées a annoncé ce lundi 18 mars une "collaboration" avec EDF afin d’utiliser la puissance de deux réacteurs nucléaires de la centrale de Civaux (Vienne) pour produit du tritium, "un gaz rare indispensable aux armes de la dissuasion".

EDF will set up at the Civaux nuclear power plant (Vienna) a service for irradiation of materials then used to produce gases used in the manufacture of weapons, the ministry announced this Monday, March 18 of the Armed Forces and the public electrician.

Once irradiated, these materials containing lithium will be transferred to a site of the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA) in order to produce tritium, a rare gas essential for deterrent weapons, clarified the services of Sébastien Lecornu following a visit by the Minister of the Armed Forces to Civaux.

EDF, for its part, announced that the service under study, a first within the French nuclear fleet, would consist of inserting materials into the hearts of the two Civaux reactors to make them radioactive, an operation with no impact on the environment. ;rsquo;operation of the power plant.

From 2025

"This collaboration was under study since the 1990s and is part of long-standing planning, usual for industrial tools of the Defense", affirms the ministry, which specifies that an agreement between the State, the CEA and EDF " will be signed, establishing the scope of activities, the rights and obligations of each party in compliance with the rules of governance".

This activity, planned progressively from 2025, will support existing CEA resources for which the State wishes "redundancy" and there are no plans to extend it to other reactors in the fleet, the group also indicated.

"The Civaux power plant was selected for questions which are both technical and linked to the fact that it is the the youngest power plant in service in the park, and which therefore has a capacity to continue its operating life which is maximum", declared Etienne Dutheil, director of nuclear production from EDF, during a conference call.