ASN Report 2018

2.2.2  –  Periodic safety reviews of radioactive waste disposal facilities The Aube (CSA) and Manche (CSM) above-ground radioactive waste repositories operated by Andra are BNIs and are therefore obliged to undergo periodic safety reviews. Their safety reviews have the particularity of addressing control of the risks and adverse effects over the long term, in addition to reassessing their operational control. Their purpose is therefore, if necessary, to revise the scenarios, models and long-term assumption in order to confirm satisfactory control of the risks and adverse effects over time. The periodic safety reviews of these two facilities, although they are different stages of progress (for the CSM, the licensee is drawing up studies, for the CSA, ASN is examining the report), thus highlight the need to move forward in the knowledge of the long-term impacts associated with the toxic chemicals contained in the waste, and on the knowledge of the impacts of radionuclides on the environment. The successive safety reviews must also serve to detail the technical measures planned by the licensee to ensure control of the adverse effects of the facility over the long term, such as through the installation of the cover which contributes to the final containment of the disposal concrete blocks. These safety reviews also serve to detail over time the measures the licensee plans to take to ensure the long-term monitoring and surveillance of the behaviour of the disposal facility and to preserve the site memory for future generations. 2.3  ̶  CEA’s waste management strategy and its assessment by ASN • Types of waste produced by the CEA The CEA operates diverse installations covering all the activities associated with the nuclear cycle, ranging from laboratories and plants involved in research on the fuel cycle to experimental reactors. The CEA also carries out numerous decommissioning operations. Consequently, the types of waste produced by the CEA are varied and include more specifically: ∙ ∙ waste resulting from operation of research facilities (protective garments, filters, metal parts and components, liquid waste, etc.); ∙ ∙ waste resulting from legacy waste retrieval and conditioning projects (cement-, sodium-, magnesium- and mercury-bearing waste); ∙ ∙ waste resulting from final shutdown and decommissioning of the facilities (graphite waste, rubble, contaminated soils, etc.). The contamination spectrum of this waste is also wide with, in particular, the presence of alpha emitters in activities relating to fuel cycle research and beta-gamma emitters in operational waste from the experimental reactors. The CEA has specific facilities for managing this waste (treatment, conditioning and storage). Some of them are shared between all the CEA centres, such as the liquid effluent treatment station in Marcoule or the solid waste treatment station in Cadarache. • The issues and implications The main issues for the CEA with regard to radioactive waste management are: ∙ ∙ the renovation of existing facilities or commissioning of new facilities for the treatment, conditioning and storage of the effluents, spent fuel and waste under satisfactory conditions of safety and radiation protection and within time frames compatible with the commitments made for shutting down old facilities which no longer meet current safety requirements; ∙ ∙ the management of legacy waste retrieval and conditioning projects. ASN notes the difficulty the CEA has in fully managing these issues and conducting all the associated projects, especially decommissioning projects, at the same time. • ASN’s examination of the CEA’s waste management strategy ASN’s last examination of the CEA’s strategy, which was concluded in 2012, showed that waste management on the whole had improved since the examination carried out in 1999. ASN nevertheless observed that certain aspects of the strategy required improvement, particularly with regard to the management of intermediate-level long-lived solid waste and low or intermediate-level liquid waste, which therefore had to be consolidated. Very significant increases in the projected duration of decommissioning operations declared by the CEA after the review of 2012, along with the quantity, the non-standard and difficult-to-characterise nature of certain substances or waste that will be either removed from storage or produced during the decommissioning operations, led ASN and ASND to jointly ask the CEA to conduct an overall review of its decommissioning and radioactive materials and waste management strategies for the next fifteen years. The CEA report was received in December 2016 and is currently being examined by ASN and ASND in order to have an overall view of the subject and establish a joint position of the oversight authorities on CEA’s strategy. ASN will issue an opinion on this strategy in 2019. 2.4  ̶  Orano’s waste management strategy and its assessment by ASN The spent fuel reprocessing plant at the La Hague site presents the main radioactive waste management issue for Orano. The waste on the La Hague site comprises on the one hand waste resulting from reprocessing of the spent fuel, which generally comes from nuclear power plants but also from research reactors, and on the other, waste resulting from operation of the various facilities on the site. Most of this waste remains the property of the licensees who have their spent fuel reprocessed (whether French or foreign). French waste is directed to the management routes described earlier, whereas foreign waste is sent back to its country of origin. On the Tricastin site, Orano also produces waste associated with the front-end activities of the cycle (production of nuclear fuel), essentially contaminated by alpha emitters. In mid-2016, Areva submitted to ASN and ASND a file presenting the decommissioning and waste management strategy for the group’s installations in France and its practical application on the La Hague and Tricastin sites. This file, for which additional elements were received in 2017, is currently being examined. ASN will give an opinion on this strategy in 2019. The last review of Areva’s waste management strategy dates back to 2005 and only focused on the Areva NC La Hague site. • The issues and implications The main issues relating to the management of waste produced by Orano concern in particular: ∙ ∙ The safety of the legacy waste storage facilities. On the La Hague site, the facilities dedicated to legacy waste retrieval, conditioning and storage have to be designed, built and then commissioned. These complex projects meet up with technical difficulties which can make it necessary to 368  ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2018 14 – RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND CONTAMINATED SITES AND SOILS