Abstracts ASN Report 2019

chemical treatment process to separate the cladding and the fission products. The hulls and end-pieces are then compacted to reduce their disposal footprint. Ļĸ ŀĸĿŇļŁĺ ĴŁķ ļŁĶļŁĸŅĴŇļłŁ ĹĴĶļĿļŇŌ łĹ ŌĶĿļĹĸ ŅĴŁĶĸё ĶĴĿĿĸķ “Centraco”, significantly reduces the volume of the VLL and LL/ILW-SL waste that is treated there. This plant has a unit dedicated to the incineration of combustible waste, and a melting unit in which metal waste is melted down. The radioactive effluents can also be concentrated by evaporation, like the operations carried out in Agate, the effluent advanced management and processing facility (BNI 171), with this same aim of volume reduction. • ¨ƏƬǸƏǕǣȇǕ Radioactive waste packaging consists in placing the waste in a package which provides a first containment barrier preventing radioactive substances being dispersed in the environment. The techniques used depend on the physical-chemical characteristic of the waste and their typology, which explains the large variety of packages used. These packages are subject to approvals by Andra if they are intended for in-service disposal facilities, and to packaging agreements by ASN if they are intended to be directed towards disposal facilities still under study. In some cases the packaging operations are carried out directly on the site of waste production, but they can also take place in dedicated facilities, like the La Hague plants, which package spent fuel hulls and end-pieces in CSD-C packages and fission products in CSD-V packages, and the effluent treatment stations such as the Stella station in BNI 35. The waste packages are sometimes packaged in the facilities in which they are to be stored, which will be the case for the ILW-SL waste packages in the Iceda facility, or directly in a disposal facility, such as Cires and CSA, which carry out these operations on a portion of the incoming packages. • ³ɎȒȸƏǕƺ ŇłŅĴĺĸё Ĵņ ķĸĹļŁĸķ ĵŌ ŅŇļĶĿĸ єׇӈӇӅіӄіӄׇłĹ ŇĻĸ ŁʼnļŅłŁŀĸŁŇ łķĸё is a temporary management solution for radioactive waste. The waste is kept in storage for a limited period pending its transfer to disposal, or in order to achieve a sufficient level of radioactive decay to enable it to be sent to conventional waste management routes in the particular case of very short-lived waste, which comes chiefly from the medical sector. Some facilities (see opposite) are specifically dedicated to the ņŇłŅĴĺĸ łĹ ŅĴķļłĴĶŇļʼnĸ ŊĴņŇĸё ņňĶĻ Ĵņ HĶŅļŁё ĶłŀŀļņņļłŁĸķ ļŁ ӅӃӄӋё and Cedra. This will also be the case with Iceda and once these facilities enter service. As for the CSD-C and CSD-V packages, they are stored directly in various facilities on the La Hague site pending commissioning of the deep geological repository for HL and ILW-LL waste. • «ƺɀƺƏȸƬǝ ƏȇƳ ƳƺɮƺǼȒȵȅƺȇɎ Support facilities are used for research and development work to optimise radioactive waste management. Among these, the Chicade facility (BNI 156) operated by the CEA on the Cadarache site conducts research and development work in low-level and intermediate-level objects and waste. This work primarily concerns aqueous waste treatment processes, decontamination processes, solid waste packaging methods and the expert assessment and inspection of waste packages. ׫٫ ڲ Nuclear safety in waste management support facilities, role of ASN and waste management strategies of the major nuclear licensees א ِ׏ zƏɎɖȸƺ Ȓǔ ³z ȒɮƺȸɀǣǕǝɎ ƏȇƳ ƏƬɎǣȒȇɀ א ِ׏ِ׏ zƏɎɖȸƺ Ȓǔ ³z ȒɮƺȸɀǣǕǝɎ ƏȇƳ ƏƬɎǣȒȇɀً ǕȸƏƳƺƳ ƏȵȵȸȒƏƬǝ With regard to radioactive waste management, ASN’s oversight aims at verifying on the one hand correct application of the waste management regulations on the production sites (for example ŊļŇĻ ŅĸņŃĸĶŇ Ňł ōłŁļŁĺё ŃĴĶľĴĺļŁĺ łŅ ŇĻĸ ĶĻĸĶľņ ŃĸŅĹłŅŀĸķ ĵŌ the licensee), and on the other hand the safety of the facilities dedicated to radioactive waste management (waste treatment, packaging, storage and disposal facilities). This oversight is exercised proportionately to the waste management steps and the safety implications for the dedicated facilities. Thus, the waste management BNIs are classified in one of three categories, ŁňŀĵĸŅĸķ ĹŅłŀ ӄׇŇł ӆׇļŁ ķĸņĶĸŁķļŁĺ łŅķĸŅ łĹ ņļĺŁļĹļĶĴŁĶĸ łĹ ŇĻĸ risks and adverse effects they present. This categorisation makes it possible to define an inspection programme and to target the level of expertise required to examine certain files submitted by the licensees. The various facilities and ASN’s assessment of their safety are presented in the introduction of this report. א ِ׏ِ …א ɮƺȸɀǣǕǝɎ Ȓǔ Ɏǝƺ ȵƏƬǸƏǕǣȇǕ Ȓǔ ɯƏɀɎƺ ȵƏƬǸƏǕƺɀ • «ƺǕɖǼƏɎǣȒȇɀ Ļĸ ŅķĸŅ łĹ ӊׇ ĸĵŅňĴŅŌ ӅӃӄӅׇķĸĹļŁĸņ ŇĻĸ ŅĸńňļŅĸŀĸŁŇņ associated with waste packaging. Producers of radioactive waste are instructed to package their waste taking into account the requirements associated with their subsequent management, and more particularly their acceptance at the disposal facilities. ŅĸņłĿňŇļłŁ ӅӃӄӊі іӃӈӋӊׇłĹ Ӆӆׇ ĴŅĶĻ ӅӃӄӊׇņŃĸĶļĹļĸņ ŇĻĸ requirements regarding waste packaging for disposal and the conditions of acceptance of waste packages in the disposal BNIs. • ¨ȸȒƳɖƬɎǣȒȇ Ȓǔ ɯƏɀɎƺ ȵƏƬǸƏǕƺɀ ǣȇɎƺȇƳƺƳ ǔȒȸ ƺɴǣɀɎǣȇǕ ƳǣɀȵȒɀƏǼ ǔƏƬǣǼǣɎǣƺɀ The waste package producers prepare an approval application file based on the acceptance specifications of the disposal facility that is to receive the packages. Andra issues an approval formalising its agreement on the package manufacturing process and the quality of the packages. Andra verifies the conformity of the packages with the issued approvals by means of audits and monitoring actions on the package producers’ premises and on the packages received at its facilities. • áƏɀɎƺ ȵƏƬǸƏǕƺɀ ǣȇɎƺȇƳƺƳ ǔȒȸ ȵȸȒǴƺƬɎƺƳ ƳǣɀȵȒɀƏǼ ǔƏƬǣǼǣɎǣƺɀ With regard to disposal facilities currently being studied, the waste acceptance specifications have of course not yet been defined. Andra therefore cannot issue approvals to govern the production of packages for LLW-LL, HLW-LL or ILW-LL waste. Under these conditions, the production of packages of these types of waste is subject to ASN approval on the basis of a file established by the waste producer and called “packaging baseline requirements”. This file must demonstrate that on the basis of existing knowledge and the currently identified requirements of the disposal facilities being studied, the packages display no unacceptable behaviour. This provision also avoids delaying waste retrieval and packaging operations. 358 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2019 ׏ ٲ ג RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND CONTAMINATED SITES AND SOILS