Cap2i, a player in the nuclear fuel reprocessing process

CAP2I has been involved in the fuel reprocessing cycle at the La Hague site with HVAC solutions for their various storage and reprocessing facilities for more than 20 years.

This plant of the ORANO group is the world leader in the recycling of waste from nuclear reactors. It allows the reuse of 96% of the recoverable materials contained in spent fuel and the safe conditioning of the remaining final waste.

In the 1990s, ORANO was looking for a dehumidification solution to prevent accelerated corrosion of the air ducts that feed the fuel storage pits. This corrosion was caused by chemical reactions on the metal of the air moisture combined with irradiation.

CAP2I responded to their needs with a cabinet solution and its remote air-cooled condenser :

- Cabinet composed of a cold coil and a hot coil with direct expansion to reduce the weight of water up to 15 g/m3 of the air blown into the ducts while maintaining an incoming and outgoing air at the same temperature.
- Rooftop air-cooled air-cooled condenser for the rejection of heat not required for the process, designed to operate in local marine and accidental snow/wind conditions.

This solution achieves the expected performance while limiting power consumption and heat rejection to the outside.

Thanks to our experience and our customer's satisfaction with the equipment in place in the various pits, we have been renewed for the dehumidification of the air in the ducts of pit 50 under construction.