ASN Report 2018

Cires without changing its ground coverage area and, subject to these conditions being favourable, filing the corresponding modification authorisation application as soon as possible. ASN considers that a second VLL waste disposal facility will ultimately be necessary to maintain the availability of disposal capacities for this waste. ASN also considers that VLL waste producers must engage in an approach that allows an in-depth examination of the feasibility of creating disposal facilities appropriate for certain types of VLL waste on their sites. ASN considers moreover that the management of VLL waste in France must continue to be based on the place of origin of the waste (areas in which the produced waste is or could be contaminated or activated) and guarantee its traceability, by means of specific routes, from production to disposal. ASN also considers that the possibilities of recycling very-low-level materials within the nuclear sector must be studied exhaustively before considering other outlets. These positions are formalised in ASN opinion 2016-AV-0258 of 18 February 2016. 1.3.2  –  Low and intermediate-level, short-lived waste Low-level and intermediate-level short-lived waste (LL/ILW-SL) (in which the radioactivity comes primarily from radionuclides with a half-life of less than 31 years) comes essentially from the operation of nuclear facilities and more specifically as a result of maintenance work (clothing, tools, filters, etc.). It can also come from the post-operational clean-out and decommissioning of these facilities. The majority of LL/ILW-SL waste is placed in surface disposal facilities operated by Andra. Once these facilities are closed, they are monitored for a period set by convention at 300 years. The facility safety analysis reports – which are updated periodically, including during the monitoring phase – must show that at the end of this phase the residual activity contained in the waste will have reached a residual level such that human and environmental exposure levels are acceptable, even in the event of a significant loss of the containment properties of the facility. There are two facilities of this type in France, the Manche repository (CSM – BNI 66), commissioned in 1969 and closed since 1994, and the Aube repository (CSA – BNI 149) in operation (see p. 52 and 65). The quantity of LL/ILW-SL waste produced as at the end of 2018 was 917,000 m 3  and, according to the national inventory established by Andra, it will represent a maximum volume of 2,000,000 m 3  on completion of decommissioning of the existing facilities. According to the estimates made by Andra in 2016 at the time of the periodic safety review of the CSA, this centre could reach its maximum filling capacity by 2060 instead of 2042 as initially forecast, this new estimate being based on better knowledge of the future waste and the waste delivery schedules. 1.3.3  –  Low-level long-lived waste management Low-level long-lived waste (LLW-LL) initially comprised two main categories: graphite waste resulting from the operation of the Gas-Cooled Reactor (GCR) nuclear power plants, and radium-bearing waste, from the radium industry and its offshoots. Other types of waste have been added to this category such as certain bituminised effluents, substances containing radium, uranium and thorium with low specific activity, as well as certain disused sealed radioactive sources. Some waste that will be produced by the Orano Cycle Malvési plant as from 1 January 2019 is also included in this waste category. Putting in place a definitive management solution for this type of waste is one of the objectives defined by the Act of 28 June 2006. Finding such a management solution necessitates firstly having greater knowledge of LLW-LL waste and secondly conducting safety studies on the associated disposal solution. The successive editions of the PNGMDR have set out this objective. ASN also drafted a notice in 2008 giving general safety guidelines concerning the search for a site capable of accommodating LLW-LL.  The PNGMDR 2010-2012 opened up the possibility of separate disposal of graphite waste and radium-containing waste, and asked Andra to work on the two design options: ∙ ∙ reworked cover disposal in an outcropping geological layer by excavation followed by backfilling; ∙ ∙ intact cover disposal dug in underground layer of clay at a greater depth. The 2013-2015 PNGMDR required the various actors involved to carry out studies (characterisation and waste treatment ASN inspection at the CSA – December 2018 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2018  359 14 – RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND CONTAMINATED SITES AND SOILS 14