02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 AP In view of the conclusions of the public debate of 2019, ASN and the DGEC have decided to change the governance of the PNGMDR. The 5th edition was prepared by the MTE, based in particular on the work of a “Guidelines Commission”. Introduced by the resolution of 21 February 2020, this Commission is chaired by an independent qualified personality and brings together, in addition to the legacy members of the pluralistic working group mentioned in chapter 2, elected officials and representatives of the regional authorities. This Commission gave opinions on various major subjects relating to the management of radioactive waste (management of VLL/LLW-LL waste, management of radioactive materials, etc.). ASN participates actively in the Guidelines Commission – albeit without voting rights – to provide its guidance on the safety and radiation protection issues. Implementation of the plan is followed up at periodic meetings of the PNGMDR working group jointly chaired by ASN and the DGEC. The PNGMDR working group met three times in 2024. In 2020 and 2021, ASN moreover assessed the studies submitted within the framework of the the PNGMDR 2016-2018. For the preparation of the 5th PNGMDR, ASN has thus issued seven opinions on the radioactive material and waste management routes in which it sets out a number of recommendations. In addition, on 9 November 2021, ASN issued a favourable opinion for the 5th PNGMDR, on condition that it is supplemented with a study of worst-case operating scenarios for the “fuel cycle”, an assessment of the impact on the nuclear facilities of continuing the reprocessing of spent fuel beyond 2040 or not, the inclusion of measures relative to the safety of HL/ILW-LL waste management and the management of waste necessitating specific work, such as tritiated waste, and better assessing the recyclability of certain radioactive materials. Lastly, on 23 June 2022 ASN issued a favourable opinion on the draft Decree and Order establishing the requirements of the 5th PNGMDR, subject to the integration of the modifications proposed in this opinion. These texts and the 5th PNGMDR covering the 2022‑2026 period were published on 9 December 2022. On 3 December 2024, the Minister responsible for energy called upon the National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP) to organize a public debate concerning the drafting of the 6th PNGMDR for the 20272031 period. Further to the deliberations of its members during the plenary session of Wednesday 11 December 2024, in view of the national issues concerning the environment, land-use planning and social and economic issues, the CNDP has decided to organise such a public debate in 2025. The French Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ASNR) plans made a position statement in early 2025 prior to the preparation of the 6th PNGMDR. 1.3 Long-term management of waste – existing or projected disposal facilities 1.3.1 Very low-level waste Very low-level waste (VLLW) comes essentially from the operation, maintenance and decommissioning of nuclear facilities. It consists mainly of inert waste (rubble, earth, sand) and metal waste. Its specific activity is usually less than 100 Bq/g and can even be below the detection threshold of certain measuring devices. The Cires includes a VLL waste disposal facility. This facility, which has ICPE status, has been operational since August 2003. At end of 2023, Cires held about 459,000 m3 of VLL waste, which represents 48% of its authorised regulatory capacity. According to the national inventory produced by Andra, the quantity of VLL waste resulting from decommissioning of the existing nuclear facilities will be about 2,200,000 m3. According to current forecasts, the centre could be filled to maximum capacity by 2045. In April 2023, Andra submitted a request to increase the authorised capacity of this disposal facility to 950,000 m3 (Acaci project), on the same surface area (as opposed to the 650,000 m3 authorised at present). Andra obtained the Prefectural Order necessary for deployment of this project in July 2024. In its opinion 2020-AV-0356 of 30 June 2020 on the management of VLL waste, ASN calls for the continuation and extension of the work undertaken in the 2016-2018 edition of the PNGMDR with the aim of improving current management methods and developing complementary management solutions which remain to be devised and implemented. ASN reaffirms that, as a general rule, VLL waste management must continue to be based on the place of origin of the waste and guarantee its traceability, thanks to specific routes, from production through to disposal, with the exception of metallic VLL waste that is to be recycled, as stated in the resolution of 21 February 2020. The recycling of certain types of waste which will be produced in large volumes is encouraged, consistently with the waste management hierarchy defined in the Environment Code. ASN recommends in particular the continuation of the metallic materials recycling facility project, with the setting up of a specific framework for the oversight of this facility. In 2021, the Government worked on setting up this regulatory framework. In its opinion 2021AV-0380 of 11 May 2021, ASN expressed its views on the draft regulations. In February 2022, the Government published the regulatory framework for issuing waivers to authorise the recycling of weakly radioactive metal substances after melting and decontamination. Such a waiver will be granted by ministerial order after consulting the public and obtaining ASN’s opinion. In this context, EDF plans building and operating a facility for recycling VLL metals baptised “Technocentre” on the site of the Fessenheim NPP currently being decommissioned. This facility will have ICPE status. A public debate on this EDF project was held between October 2024 and February2025, with submission of the construction application planned in 2025. ASN considers it necessary for all the stakeholders, particularly the representatives of the regions concerned or likely to be concerned, to be more closely involved in the defining of the VLL waste management solutions. It recommends that the studies for putting in place additional disposal facilities, whether centralised or decentralised, be continued and that the government should clarify Andra’s responsibility in this respect. Consistently with the abovementioned ASN opinion, the 5th PNGMDR contains the following objectives concerning the management of VLL waste: ∙continue the studies aiming to deploy new centralised and decentralised storage capacities for VLL waste; ∙continue looking into the recycling of VLL waste, particularly defining the conditions of implementation of metallic waste recycling; ∙define VLL waste management scenarios, cast light upon their environmental, regional, health and safety issues, and use this to establish an overall management strategy; ∙refine the perspectives for the production of VLL waste from the decommissioning of the nuclear installations, by explicitly identifying the waste associated with the clean-out of structures and contaminated soils. 1.3.2 Low and intermediate-level, short-lived waste Low-level and intermediate-level shortlived waste (LL/ILW-SL) - in which the radioactivity comes primarily from radionuclides with a half-life of less than 31 years – results essentially from the operation of nuclear facilities and more specifically from maintenance activities (clothing, tools, filters, etc.). It can also come from the post-operational clean-out and decommissioning of these facilities. The majority of LL/ILW-SL waste is placed in surface disposal facilities operated by Andra. Once these facilities are closed, ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2024 379 01 Radioactive waste and contaminated sites and soils 15
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