ASN Report 2020

Écrin facility The Ecrin facility, BNI 175, is situated in the municipality of Narbonne in the Aude département , within the Malvési site operated by Orano where the f irst step of the fuel cycle (excluding extraction of the ores) is carried out. The transformation process produces liquid effluents containing nitrated sludge loaded with natural uranium. The entire plant is subject to the system governing Seveso high-threshold Installations Classified for Protection of the Environment (ICPEs). Two storage basins containing the legacy sludge f rom the plant constitute the Ecrin BNI. These two basins have BNI classif ication due to the presence of traces of artif icial radioisotopes. This BNI was authorised by Decree of 20 July 2015 for the storage of radioactive waste for a period of 30 years. The Ecrin facility was commissioned by ASN resolution 2018-DC- 0645 of 12 October 2018. This authorisation enabled the licensee to start in February 2019 the work defined in the authorisation decree, which continued in 2020 with the start of f illing of the PERLE vault (French acronym standing for “Project for Reversible Lagoon Storage in the Ecrin BNI”). The installation of a bituminous cover on the BNI’s basins has also been started. The licensee announced in 2020 that it would be late in submitting the results, provided for by Article 7 of the creation authorisation decree, relative to the storage options feasibility study with a view to final disposal of the radioactive waste from the Orano Malvési site. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and environmental protection of the Écrin facility is satisfactory. 90 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 REGIONAL OVERVIEWOF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION