ASN Report 2015

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This file is currently being reviewed by ASN. The
environmental authority issued an opinion in September
2014 and a public inquiry was held from 13th April to
18th May 2015.
Implementation of new process in STE3
On 4th May 2012, Areva NC submitted a modification
authorisation application file for BNI 118 to the Minister
responsible for Nuclear Safety. The purpose of this
modification application is to allow processing and
packaging of the sludges stored in the STE2 facility, by
means of a new process to be utilised within an existing
building of the STE3 facility, in place of one of the two
bituminisation lines (line A).
This process will consist of the following:
• drying of the STE2 treatment sludges;
• compacting of the powder resulting from drying, in
the form of pellets;
• packaging of the pellets in a package filled with an
inert material (C5 package);
• storage of the C5 packages, pending opening of a long-
term management solution.
This authorisation applicationwas examined by ASNand
is the subject of a draft decree by theMinister responsible
for Nuclear Safety, for which ASN issued a favourable
opinion on 3rdDecember 2015. The Decree authorising
the modification was signed on 29th January 2016.
The special fuels reprocessing unit project
In 2014, Areva presented ASN with a project to install
a new special Fuels Reprocessing Unit (TCP). This unit
would comprise newshearing anddissolving equipment, in
particular for the spent fuels fromtest and research reactors
and the Phenix reactor. The R&D studies concerning
this project are ongoing.
With regard to the authorisation to receive and reprocess
spent fuels from the Phenix reactor, Areva transmitted a
safety options file for this new reprocessing unit at the
beginning of 2016. This undertakingwas taken up in the
ASNresolutionof 11thMarch2014which alsoprescribes
the submissionof anapplication for authorisation tomodify
the facility before 31st December 2018. This will also be
the subject of a public inquiry.
1.2.4 Recovery and packaging of legacy waste
The formerUP2-400plant has been finally shut down since
1st January2004. The final shutdownanddecommissioning
operations for theUP2-400, HAOand STE2 facilities and
the ELAN II B unit are described in detail in chapter 15.
Unlike the waste packaged directly on-line produced by
the new UP2-800 and UP3-A plants at La Hague, most
of the waste produced by the first UP2-400 plant was
stored inbulkwithout any final packaging. The operations
involved in recovering thiswaste are technicallydifficult and
require the use of considerable resources. The difficulties
associatedwith the age of thewaste, inparticular the need
for characterisationprior to any recovery andprocessing,
confirmASN’s approach which, for any project, requires
the licensees to assess the corresponding production of
waste and make provision for processing and packaging
as and when the waste is produced. The recovery of the
waste contained in the old storage facilities on the LaHague
site is also a precondition for the decommissioning and
clean-out of these storage facilities.
The recovery of legacywastes fromthe LaHague site is thus
monitored particularly closely by ASN, mainly because
of the major safety and radiation protection implications
associatedwith it. Furthermore, recoveryof the site’s legacy
waste is one of theAreva group’smajor commitments,made
within the framework of theministerial authorisations to
start up new spent fuel reprocessing plants (UP3-A and
UP2-800) in the 1990s.
The initial schedule for the recovery of thesewastes slipped
significantly and has continued to slip in recent years. ASN
considersthatthedeadlinesmustnolongerbepushedback,
becausethebuildingsinwhichthislegacywasteisstoredare
ageing andno longer complywith current safety standards.
ASN in particular considers that Areva NCmust as rapidly
as possible recover the legacywaste produced by operation
of the UP2-400 facility, more specifically the sludges stored
in the STE2 silos, the waste from the HAO and 130 silos
and the fission products solutions stored in the SPF2 unit.
A final decision must be reached concerning disposal
routes or new intermediate storage facilities, because
their implementation involves large-scale projects: further
postponement would jeopardise compliance with the
deadlines set by the Environment Code, which states that
the owners of intermediate level long-livedwaste produced
before 2015 must package it by 2030 at the latest (see
video on rules for recovery and packaging of
legacy waste at La Hague).
STE2 sludges
Since 2010, the scenario for the recovery andpackaging of
STE2 sludges has been stabilised and consists in transfer of
the sludges toBNI 118 (STE3) for processing andpackaging
via a new process as yet to be built (see point 1.2.3). The
recoveryof these sludges shouldbe completedno later than
31st December 2030 in accordance with the provisions
of the Environment Code. The envisaged corresponding
waste packages are called C5 packages.
In its resolution 2011-DC-0206 of 4th January 2011,
ASN stipulated that it must first approve the production
of this type of package, for which the design must take
account of the risk of radiolysis leading to the production
of hydrogen (see chapter 16).
In 2015, ASN authorised the first phase of the STE2
sludges recovery work.
425 CHAPTER 13: NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE INSTALLATIONS
ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2015