ASN Report 2018

NORM waste can be stored in two types of facility depending on its specific activity: ∙ ∙ in a waste disposal facility authorised by Prefectural Order, if the acceptance conditions stipulated in the Circular of 25 July 2006 (1) relative to waste storage facilities, coming under Sections 2760 of the ICPE nomenclature, are satisfied; ∙ ∙ in Cires (2)  (Industrial centre for grouping, storage and disposal) intended for the disposal of very low-level radioactive waste. Some of this waste is however stored while waiting for a disposal route, in particular the commissioning of a disposal centre for low-level long-lived waste (LLW-LL). Four hazardous waste disposal facilities are authorised by Prefectural Order to receive waste containing radionuclides of natural origin: ∙ ∙ Villeparisis in Île-de-France, authorised until 31 December 2020, for an annual capacity of 250,000 tonnes, all wastes combined; ∙ ∙ Bellegarde in Occitanie, authorised until 4 February 2029, for an annual capacity of 250,000 tonnes all wastes combined until 2018 and 105,000 tonnes beyond this; ∙ ∙ Champteussé-sur-Baconne in Pays de la Loire, authorised until 2049, for an annual capacity of 55,000 tonnes, all waste combined; ∙ ∙ Argences in Normandie, authorised until 2023, for an annual capacity of 30,000 tonnes, all waste combined. Furthermore, following the entry into effect on 1 July 2018 of Decree 2018-434 of 4 June 2018 introducing various provisions with regard to nuclear activities, the provisions of the Labour Code relative to the protection of workers against ionising radiation also apply to professional activities involving materials that naturally contain radioactive substances, which include the NORMs. 1.2  ̶  The legal framework for radioactive waste management Radioactive waste management falls within the general waste management framework defined in Book V, Part IV, Chapter I of the Environment Code and its implementing decrees. Particular provisions concerning radioactive waste were introduced first by Act 91-1381 of 30 December 1991 on research into the management of radioactive waste, and then by Planning Act 2006-739 of 28 June 2006 on sustainable management of radioactive materials and waste, called the “Waste Act”, which gives a legislative framework to the management of all radioactive materials and waste. A large part of the provisions of these Acts are codified in Book V, Part IV, Chapter II of the Environment Code. The Act of 28 June 2006 more specifically sets a calendar for research into high and intermediate-level, long-lived (HL and IL-LL) waste and a clear legal framework for ring-fencing the funds needed for decommissioning and for the management of radioactive waste. It also provides for the preparation of the PNGMDR, which aims conducting a periodic assessment and defining the prospects for the radioactive substance management policy. It also increases the missions of Andra. Finally, it prohibits the disposal in France of foreign waste by providing for the adoption of rules specifying the conditions for the return of waste resulting from the reprocessing in France of spent fuel and waste from abroad. 1. Circular of 25/07/06 relative to classified installations – Acceptance of technologically enhanced or concentrated natural radioactivity in the waste disposal centres. 2. Installation subject to licensing under the system of Section 2797 of the ICPEs. This framework was amended in 2016 with the publication of the Ordinance 2016-128 of 10 February 2016 introducing various provisions with regard to nuclear activities which made it possible to: ∙ ∙ transpose Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom of 19 July 2011  establishing a European community framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, while reasserting the prohibition on the disposal in France of radioactive waste from foreign countries and of radioactive waste resulting from the reprocessing of spent fuel and the treatment of radioactive waste from abroad, and detailing the conditions of application of this prohibition; ∙ ∙ define a procedure for the administrative authority to re-qualify materials as radioactive waste; ∙ ∙ reinforce the existing administrative and criminal penalties and provide for new penalties in the event of noncompliance with the applicable provisions regarding radioactive waste and spent fuel. The conditions for creating a reversible deep geological repository for high-level and intermediate-level long-lived radioactive waste are detailed in Act 2016-1015 of 25 July 2016. 1.2.1  –  Legal framework for the management of radioactive waste produced in basic nuclear installations In France, the management of radioactive waste in BNIs is governed in particular by the Order of 7 February 2012 setting the general rules relative to BNIs, of which Part VI concerns waste management. BNI licensees establish a waste zoning plan which identifies the zones in which the waste produced is or could be contaminated or activated. As a protective measure, the waste produced in these zones is managed as if it was radioactive and must be directed to dedicated routes. This absence of release thresholds for waste coming from a zone in which the waste is or could be contaminated or activated, constitutes a particularity of the French regulations. Waste from other areas, once confirmed as being free of radioactivity, is sent to authorised routes for the management of hazardous, non-hazardous or inert waste, depending on its properties. The regulations also oblige the licensees to conduct waste management studies setting out the licensee’s targets for limiting the volume and the radiological, chemical and biological toxicity of the waste produced in its facilities and to reduce, by recycling and treating this waste, the final disposal volume reserved for ultimate waste. This study shall consider the installations’ waste management routes through to disposal. ASN resolution 2015-DC-0508 of 21 April 2015 relative to the waste management study and the assessment of the waste produced in the BNIs details the provisions of the Order of 7 February 2012, particularly concerning: ∙ ∙ the content of the waste management study, which must be submitted when a BNI is commissioned and kept up to date throughout its operation; ∙ ∙ the procedures for drawing up and managing the waste zoning plan; ∙ ∙ the content of the annual waste management assessment which each installation must transmit to ASN. 356  ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2018 14 – RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND CONTAMINATED SITES AND SOILS