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1. RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Nuclear activities produce waste whichmust be managed
in accordance with specific and stringent conditions.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Environment Code,
the producers of spent fuel and radioactive waste are
responsible for these substances, without prejudice
to the liability of those who hold these substances in
their role as persons or entities responsible for nuclear
activities. Moreover, waste producers must pursue the
objective of minimising the volume and harmfulness of
their waste, both before production by appropriate design
and operation of the facilities and after production, by
appropriate sorting, treatment and packaging.
The different forms of radioactive waste differ widely
in their radioactivity (specific activity, nature of the
radiation, half-life) and their physical and chemical
form (scrap metal, rubble, oils, etc.).
Two principal parameters can be used to assess the
radiological risk that radioactive waste represents: firstly
the activity, which contributes to the toxicity of the
waste, and secondly the half-life of the radionuclides
present in the waste which determines the required
waste containment time. A distinction is therefore made
between very low, low, intermediate and high level waste,
on the one hand, and on the other very short-lived waste
(whose activity level is halved in less than 100 days)
resulting mainly from medical activities, short-lived
waste (chiefly containing radionuclides whose activity
level is halved in less than 31 years) and long-livedwaste
(which contains a large quantity of radionuclides whose
activity level is halved in more than 31 years).
Each type of waste requires the implementation of an
appropriate and safe management solution in order
to control the risks it represents, particularly the
radiological risk.
T
his chapter
presents the role and actions of ASN in the management of waste
generated by activities involving radioactive substances and the management
of sites contaminated by radioactive substances. It describes in particular the
steps taken to define and determine the main radioactive waste management
orientations and the controls carried out by ASNwith respect to nuclear safety
and radiation protection in facilities involved in the management of radioactive waste.
The term radioactive waste implies radioactive substances for which no subsequent use is
planned or envisaged. These substances can come from both nuclear activities and non-
nuclear activities in which the radioactivity naturally contained in substances, which are
not used for their radioactive properties, may have been concentrated by the processes
employed.
A site contaminated by radioactive substances is any site, either abandoned or in operation,
on which natural or artificial radioactive substances have been or are employed or stored
in conditions such that the site can constitute a hazard for health and the environment.
Contamination by radioactive substances can be the result of industrial, medical or
research activities.
A highlight of 2015 was the development of the 2016-2018 French National Radioactive
Material and Waste Management Plan (PNGMDR). This three-year plan reviews the
situation of the radioactive substance management policy in France, lists the new needs
and determines the objectives, particularly in terms of studies and research for creating
new management routes.
2015 also saw regulatory changes in the framework applicable to the operational management
of radioactive waste in the facilities. The ASN resolution relative to the waste management
study and the assessment of the waste produced in the Basic Nuclear Installations (BNI),
indicating the provisions of the Order of 7th February 2012 setting the general rules
relative to BNIs, was signed by the ASN Commission on 21st April 2015 and approved
by the Minister responsible for Nuclear Safety. The public consultation for its application
guide and that for the ASN resolution relative to the packaging of radioactive waste and
acceptance of radioactive waste packages in repository BNIs also took place in 2015.
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CHAPTER 16:
RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND CONTAMINATED SITES AND SOILS
ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2015