the treatment of mine water collected on a given site, in some cases housing a uranium ore treatment residues repository. This final version is awaiting publication. ASN has proposed creating a third working group which will focus on the updating of the methodology for assessing the long-term impact of the mining processing residue disposal sites. This working group will endeavour more specifically to detail the long-term deterioration scenarios for the covers of mining processing residue disposal facilities, in relation with the radioactive waste disposal site development scenarios and the work carried out by the pluralistic expert assessment group for the uranium mining sites of the Limousin region (GEP Limousin). This working group has not yet started, priority having been given to completing the work of the two working groups mentioned previous page. The PNGMDR 2022-2026 plans to continue these actions concerning the long-term environmental and health impact of the management of the former uranium mines. These actions will notably take into consideration the continued updating of the studies on structure stability applying the methodology proposed by the final report on maintaining the functions of the structures encircling the uranium ore treatment residue disposal areas and application of the methodology for management of the waters from former mining sites specified above. 4 Management of sites and soils contaminated by radioactive substances A site contaminated by radioactive substances is defined as a site which, due to the presence of old deposits of radioactive substances or waste, or to the utilisation or infiltration of radioactive substances or radiological activation of materials, presents radioactive contamination that could cause adverse effects or a lasting risk for people or the environment. Contamination by radioactive substances can result from industrial, craft, medical or research activities involving radioactive substances. It can concern the places where these activities are carried out, but also their immediate or more remote vicinity. The activities concerned are generally either nuclear activities as defined by the Public Health Code or activities concerned by natural radioactivity. However, most of the sites contaminated by radioactive substances and today requiring management have been the seat of past industrial activities, dating back to a time when knowledge of the radioactivity- related risks was not what it is today. The main industrial sectors that generated the radioactive contamination identified today were radium extraction for medical and para-pharmaceutical needs, from the early 1900s until the end of the 1930s, the manufacture and application of luminescent radioactive paint for night vision, and the industries working ores such as monazite or zircons. Sites contaminated by radioactive substances are managed on a caseby-case basis, which necessitates having a precise diagnosis of the site. Several inventories of contaminated sites are available to the public and are complementary: Andra’s national inventory, which is updated every five years and comprises the sites identified as contaminated by radioactive substances (the 2024 edition is available on andra.fr, as is the publication of the National Inventory Essentials 2024) and the contaminated sites and soils databases of the Ministry responsible for the environment. ASN considers moreover that the stakeholders and audiences concerned must be involved as early as possible in the process to rehabilitate a site contaminated by radioactive substances. In application of the “polluter-pays” principle written into the Environment Code, those responsible for the contamination finance the operations to rehabilitate the contaminated site and to remove the waste resulting from these operations. If the responsible entities default, Andra, on account of its public service remit and by public requisition, ensures the rehabilitation of radioactive contaminated sites. In cases where contaminated sites and soils have no known responsible entity, the State finances their clean-up through a public subsidy provided for in Article L. 542-12-1 of the Environment Code. The French National Funding Commission for Radioactive Matters (CNAR) gives opinions on the utilisation of this subsidy, as much with respect to fund allocation priorities as to polluted site treatment strategies and the principles of assisted collection of waste. Under Article D. 542‑15 of the Environment Code, the composition of the CNAR is as follows: ∙“members by right”: representatives of the Ministries responsible for the environment and energy, of Andra, the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe), IRSN, CEA, ASN and the Association of Mayors of France; ∙members mandated for four years by the Ministries responsible for energy, nuclear safety and radiation protection (the CNAR chair, two representatives of environmental associations and one representative of a public land management corporation). The Commission met once in 2024, to address the files concerning the retrieval of radioactive objects in the possession of private individuals, the management of polluted sites and the management of soils from the clean-out of legacy sites. When contamination is caused by an installation that is subject to special policing (BNI, ICPE or nuclear activity governed by the Public Health Code), the sites are managed under the same oversight system. Otherwise, the Prefect oversees the measures taken regarding management of the contaminated site. ASN actions concerning the various uranium mining sites and soils contaminated by radioactive substances The uranium mines, their annexes and their conditions of closure are covered by the Mining Code. The disposal facilities for radioactive mining tailings are governed by section 1735 of the ICPE classification system. Oversight of the conditions of management of the mine tailings or mining waste rock outside the production or disposal sites is the responsibility of the Prefect, on proposals from the Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing (Dreal). Consequently, the mines, the disposal areas, the mine tailings, the conditions of management of mine tailings or mining waste rock on public land and the management of sites and soils with no solvent responsible entity which are polluted by radioactive substances are not subject to ASN oversight. ASN assists the State departments at their request in the areas of radiation protection of workers and the public, and the management routes for mining waste, tailings and waste rock. In addition, under the PNGMDR, ASN issues opinions on the studies submitted in order, for example, to further knowledge of the development of the long-term radiological impact of the former mining sites on the public and the environment. ASN can, at the request of the competent authority, issue opinions concerning the management of these sites, in view of the radiation exposure risks and radioactive waste management challenges. 390 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2024 Radioactive waste and contaminated sites and soils
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NjQ0NzU=