Commissariat a L'energie Atomique

Robert Porte

Michel Rommens

Jean-Paul Delisle

Lucien Prouteau

Raymond Pochard

In a first step, a mixture of nodular sediments and sea water is collected by dredging along the sea bed and lifted into the separation compartment of an underwater control and storage station connected by tubing to a carrier ship. A volume of air corresponding to the pressure of the compartment at the immersion depth is sucked from the mixture and re-injected into the dredging tube by means of a booster compressor. In a second step, the nodules separated from the air are sucked to the surface and then collected.

Method of extraction of nodular sediments or the like from the sea floor

For location of failed fuel cans in a sodium-cooled nuclear reactor, a gas flow under a pressure slightly higher than that of the sodium at the outlet of the fuel assemblies is supplied to the outlets of each of the assemblies in seriatim order. The resulting emulsion is raised by air-lift and collected in a tank located at a level higher than that of the outlet. The gas separates from the emulsion and a gas output from the tank is monitored to detect the presence of radioactive products therein.

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Le Mesnil St Denis, France

Robert Porte