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submitted by Andra does not however allow a ruling
on the appropriateness of the definitive abandonment
of the near-surface storage facility design option. ASN
thus considers that Andra must detail the technical
and economic elements allowing a comparison of the
advantages and drawbacks of near-surface storage
facilities compared with above-ground or partially
buried facilities, particularly in terms of robustness
and safety with respect to external hazards.
Reversible deep geological disposal
The studies of deep geological disposal fit into the
guidelines of Article L. 542-1-2 of the Environment
Code, namely that
“after storage, ultimate radioactive
waste which, for nuclear safety or radiation protection
reasons, cannot be disposed of on the surface or at shallow
depth, shall be disposed of in a deep geological repository”.
The Waste Act assigns Andra the task of designing a
deep geological disposal facility, which is considered
to be a BNI and therefore subject to ASN oversight.
The principle of this type of disposal
Deep geological disposal of radioactive waste consists
in placing packages of radioactive waste – without
the intention of retrieving them – in an underground
facility situated in a deep geological formation
whose characteristics ensure the containment of the
radioactive substances present in the waste. Such a
disposal facility – unlike storage facilities – must
be designed such that long-term safety is ensured
passively, that is to say without depending on human
actions (such as monitoring or maintenance activities)
which require institutional control, the durability of
which cannot be guaranteed beyond a limited period
of time. Lastly, the depth of the disposal structures
must be such that they cannot be significantly affected
by the expected external natural phenomena (erosion,
climate change, earthquakes, etc.) or by “normal”
human activities.
Under these conditions, in its opinion of 1st February
2006, ASN considers deep geological disposal to be an
“unavoidable definitive management solution”.
In 1991 ASN published basic safety rule RFS III-2-f
defining the objectives to be set in the design and
works phases for final disposal of radioactive waste in
deep geological formations, in order to ensure safety
after the operational life of the repository. In 2008 it
published an update of this document which became
Safety guide No.1.
Underground laboratory of Meuse/Haute-Marne
Studies on deep geological disposal necessitate research
and experiments in an underground laboratory. Andra
has been operating such an underground laboratory
within the Bure municipality since 1999.
ASN issues recommendations concerning the research
and experiments, and ascertains through follow-up
inspections that they are carried out using processes
that guarantee the quality of the results.
Technical instructions
Under the Act of 30th December 1991 through until
2006, and then under the Waste Act of 28th June 2006
and the PNGMDR, Andra has carried out studies and
submitted reports and files on deep geological repository.
These studies and reports have been examined by ASN
- referring in particular to the Safety guide of 2008 -
and it has issued an opinion on them.
ASN has thus examined the files submitted by Andra in
2005 and at the end of 2009. ASN gave the Government
its opinion on these files on 1st February 2006 and
26th July 2011.
Andra is continuing its work and ASN examines the files
submitted to it to measure the progress of the studies
and work carried out.
On 16th May 2103, ASN issued an opinion on four
documents submitted by Andra between 2009 and
2012 concerning:
•
theWaste Management Industrial Programme (PIGD);
•
the results of the 3D seismic campaign carried out in
2010 over the 30 km² Zone of Interest for In-depth
Studies (ZIRA), to determine the location of the
underground facilities of the future disposal centre;
•
a progress report on the development of an operational
model of release of radionuclides by spent fuel from
EDF reactors under disposal conditions, requested
as part of the PNGMDR;
•
Andra’s responses further to an independent study
carried out at the request of the Bure CLIS (Local
Information andMonitoringCommittee) by anAmerican
institute, the Institute for Energy and Environmental
Research (IEER).
ASN also published its positions taken further to
the examination of the files entitled
“Projet Cigéo
- Esquisse Jesq03 (2012)”
(Cigéo Project – Outline
milestone 03(2012)) in November 2013, and
“Ouvrages
de fermeture”
(Closing structures) in October 2014.
In 2015, ASN examined a file submitted by Andra entitled
“Maîtrise des risques en exploitation au niveau esquisse du
projet Cigéo”
(Control of in-service risks at the outline
level of the Cigéo project). ASN observed that this file
contains some significant progress regarding in-service
risk control, which confirms the developments already
noted during examination of the
“Esquisse - Jesq03”
outline milestone file. ASN nevertheless underlines
that information still has to be provided concerning
the procedure, the safety requirements and the risks
presented in the file, and on the operational control of
the facility and restoring the various disposal functions
following an accident situation. ASN informed Andra
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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