they will be monitored for a period set at 300 years by Basic Safety Rule RFS-I.2. The facility safety analysis reports – which are updated periodically, including during the monitoring phase – must show that at the end of this phase, the activity contained in the waste will have reached a residual level such that human and environmental exposure levels are acceptable, even in the event of a significant loss of the containment properties of the facility. There are two facilities of this type in France, the Manche repository (CSM – BNI 66), which operated from 1969 until 1994 and is currently in the closure preparation phase, and the Aube repository (CSA – BNI 149) which is in operation (see “Regional overview” in the introduction to this report). The quantity of LL/ILW-SL waste emplaced in the CSA repository totalled 372,000 m3 at the end of 2023, which represents 37% of the facility’s maximum authorised capacity. Added to this quantity is the waste emplaced in the CSM, which totals 527,225 m3. The total quantity of LL/ ILW-SL waste emplaced in the Andra facilities is therefore about 899,000 m3, to be compared with the quantity of 989,000 m3 produced at the end of 2022. According to the data of the national inventory drawn up by Andra, this waste will represent a maximum volume of 2,000,000 m3 on completion of decommissioning of the existing facilities. According to the estimates made by Andra in 2016 at the time of the second periodic safety review of the CSA, this facility could reach its maximum filling capacity by 2060 instead of 2042 as initially forecast, this new estimate being based on better knowledge of the future waste and the waste delivery schedules. 1.3.3 Low-level long-lived waste Low-level long-lived waste (LLW-LL) waste initially comprised two main types: graphite waste resulting from operation of the Gas-Cooled Reactors (GCRs) and radium- bearing waste from the radium industry and its offshoots. Other types of waste have been added to this category such as certain bituminised wastes, substances containing radium, uranium and thorium with low specific activity, as well as certain disused sealed radioactive sources. Furthermore, a fraction of the waste from the Écrin facility (BNI 175) operated by Orano in Malvesi (Aude département) produced as from 1 January 2019 is now included in this waste category. The solid waste produced until 31 December 2018, on account of the large volumes it represents, is placed in a specific category of the national inventory called RTCU (French acronym standing for “Uranium Fuel Reprocessing Residues”). Putting in place a definitive management solution for this type of waste is one of the objectives defined by the Act of 28 June 2006. Finding such a management solution necessitates firstly having greater knowledge of LLW-LL waste and secondly conducting safety studies on the associated disposal solution. The successive PNGMDRs have set out this objective. ASN also published a notice in 2008 giving general safety guidelines concerning the search for a site capable of accommodating LLW-LL. This notice defines the general guidelines to follow as from the phases of looking for a site and designing an LLW-LL waste disposal facility in order to ensure its safety after closure. The PNGMDR 2010-2012 opened up the possibility of separate disposal of graphite waste and radium-containing waste, and asked Andra to work on the two design options: ∙reworked cover disposal in an outcropping geological layer by excavation followed by backfilling; ∙intact cover disposal dug in an underground layer of clay at a greater depth. Implementation of the requirements of the PNGMDR 2013‑2015 enabled the holders of LLW-LL waste to move forward with characterising their waste and studying the treatment possibilities, particularly as concerns the graphite wastes and certain bituminous waste packages. More specifically, the radiological inventory for chlorine-36 and iodine-129 has undergone a downward reassessment. Alongside this, Andra submitted a report in July 2015 containing: ∙proposals of choices of management scenarios for graphite waste and bituminous waste; ∙preliminary design studies covering the disposal options referred to as “intact cover disposal” and “reworked cover disposal”; ∙the inventory of the waste to be emplaced in it and the implementation schedule. In 2016, ASN issued an opinion 2016-AV264 on this report and began a revision of the general safety guidelines notice of 2008, which will ultimately be replaced by an ASN guide. To this end, a working group bringing together ASN, the French Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), Andra, the LLW-LL waste producers and representatives of civil society was set up. The recommendations of the IRSN report published in December 2020 and summarising the work were examined by Advisory Committees of Experts (GPEs) in March 2021. On this basis, ASN began technical discussions with Andra and IRSN in 2021, focusing in particular on the assessment of the longterm dosimetric impact of the disposal project. In 2011, Orano submitted (as part of the PNGMDR 2013-2015 preparatory work) a study concerning the long-term management of the waste already produced by the Malvési site (baptised “RTCU”), currently stored in the Écrin facility (BNI 175). Various disposal concepts are considered. ∙above-ground disposal; ∙near-surface (40 m), reworked cover disposal, in the former open-cast mine pit; ∙near-surface (40 m) reworked cover disposal, in a new pit. Given the nature of the waste and the configuration of the site, ASN indicated in its opinion 2012-AV-0166 of 4 October 2012 that it is not in favour of continuing the development of a surface disposal facility, as it considers that it does not meet the long-term safety requirements. Orano has now abandoned this option. In 2021, pursuant to Article 7 of the Decree of 20 July 2015 authorising the creation of BNI 175 Ecrin, Orano sent ASN a report presenting the progress of the studies and investigations carried out. Two disposal options considered for the radioactive waste on the Malvési site and its immediate environment are being studied. ASN sent its observations concerning this report to Orano in 2024, to be taken into account in the preparation of the next progress report which will be submitted in 2025. ASN opinion 2020-AV-0357 of 6 August 2020 details the areas of work it recommends for the management of LLW-LL waste. On the basis of this opinion, the 20222026 edition of the PNGMDR comprises actions aiming to: ∙enhance the reliability of the inventories (by including the legacy RTCU waste stored in Écrin) and the characteristics of the LLW-LL waste; ∙clarify the saturation time-lines for the LLW-LL storage capacities; ∙define LLW-LL waste management scenarios and evaluate their advantages and drawbacks; ∙by involving the representatives of the localities actually or liable to be concerned, continue studies on an RTCU disposal facility. Pursuant to the Order of 9 December 2022 issued in application of Decree 2022-1547 of 9 December 2022, Andra transmitted a technical and Safety Options Dossier (DOS) in 2024 presenting an assessment of the feasibility of near-surface disposal of low-level long-lived waste on the site of the Municipal Federation of VendeuvreSoulaines (CCVS), and a project for an industrial scheme for the management of LLW-LL waste presenting the different existing and future management options. These elements will serve in particular as a work basis for a working group set up in early 2025 under the LLW-LL.2 action (“FAVL.2” in French) of the PNGMDR 2022-2026, which will examine the various management options for LLW-LL waste. 1.3.4 High-level and intermediate-level, long-lived waste Following on from the Act of 30 December 1991, the Act of 28 June 2006 provides for the research into the management of HLW and ILW-LL radioactive waste to be continued along three complementary lines: separation and transmutation of the longlived radionuclides, interim storage and reversible deep geological disposal. 380 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2024 Radioactive waste and contaminated sites and soils
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NjQ0NzU=