Safety issues on laser megajoule facility

The Laser Megajoule (LMJ) is a facility dedicated to inertial confinement fusion experiments. Building construction phase should start in the first half of year 2003. Use of a deuterium–tritium mixture in the experiments and high neutron yield generation induces hazards such as contamination of equipments inside the target chamber and activation of materials. Calculations have been undertaken to estimate dose rates levels in the facility. Optimization is under development on ALARA principle basis to reduce activation and workers exposure. Decontamination is an other important safety issue for LMJ; different processes are available and have to be considered (lasers, foams …). Radioactive wastes will be generated and their disposal has to be taken into account.