∙ improve the understanding of the environmental and health impact of the former uranium mines and their monitoring; ∙ manage the mining waste rock (better identify the uses and reduce impacts if necessary); ∙ reinforce information and consultation. PNGMDR: The long-term behaviour of the sites The studies submitted for the PNGMDR since 2003 have enhanced knowledge of: ∙ the dosimetric impact of the mine tailing disposal areas on man and the environment, in particular through the comparison of data obtained from monitoring and the results of modelling; ∙ the evaluation of the long-term dosimetric impact of the waste rock stockpiles and waste rock in the public domain in relation to the results obtained in context of the Circular of 22 July 2009; ∙ the strategy chosen for the changes in the treatment of water collected from former mining sites; ∙ the relation between the discharged flows and the accumulation of marked sediments in the rivers and lakes; ∙ the methodology for assessing the long-term integrity of the embankments surrounding tailings disposal sites; ∙ transport of uranium from the waste rock piles to the environment; ∙ the mechanisms governing the mobility of uranium and radium within uranium-bearing mining tailings. Further to ASN opinion 2016-AV-0255 of 9 February 2016, and in the context of the PNGMDR 2016-2018, Orano submitted 11 studies between January 2017 and February 2020 to supplement the studies submitted prior to this. Based on this, ASN issued an opinion on 4 February 2021 to review the situation on these subjects. Consequently, ASN opinion 2021-AV-0374 of 4 February 2021 specifies the studies still to be carried out to meet the challenges associated with the former mining sites and reiterated above. These studies may lead to the performance of work such as removal of the mining tailings from public land, reinforcement of the structures encircling the disposal sites, and improving preservation of the memory. This opinion also recommends continuing the work of the two technical working groups concerning: ∙ Maintaining the functions of the structures encircling the uranium ore treatment residue disposal areas. The interim report was published on the ASN website. The work continued in 2021 and the final report on maintaining the functions of the structures encircling the uranium ore treatment residue disposal areas should be published in 2022. The subsequent publication of a methodological guide for assessing the stability of this type of structure could be envisaged. ∙ Management of the water from the former uranium mining sites. The interim report was published on the ASN website. In 2021, the dedicated technical working group continued development of the multi-criteria multi-player analysis methodology, and tested it on a site. ASN has proposed creating a third working group which will focus on the updating of the methodology for assessing the longterm impact of the mining processing residue disposal sites. This working group will endeavour more specifically to detail the longterm deterioration scenarios for the covers of mining processing residue disposal facilities, in relation with the radioactive waste disposal site development scenarios and the work carried out by the pluralistic expert assessment group for the uranium mining sites of the Limousin region (GEP Limousin). It is planned to launch the group in 2022. The draft PNGMDR 2021-2025 provides for the continuation of these actions concerning the long-term environmental and health impact of the management of the former uranium mines. It will result in the defining of a detailed work programme in 2022. This programme will more specifically take into account the three new studies on the stability of the structures of the three sites situated in the Haute-Vienne département (Brugeaud, Lavaugrasse and Montmassacrot), submitted by Orano in October 2021, and the study on sediments submitted in January 2022. 4 // Management of sites and soils contaminated by radioactive substances A site contaminated by radioactive substances is defined as a site which, due to the presence of old deposits of radioactive substances or waste, or to the utilisation or infiltration of radioactive substances or radiological activation of materials, presents radioactive contamination that could cause adverse effects or a lasting risk for people or the environment. Contamination by radioactive substances can result from industrial, craft, medical or research activities involving radioactive substances. It can concern the places where these activities are carried out, but also their immediate or more remote vicinity. The activities concerned are generally either nuclear activities as defined by the Public Health Code, or activities concerned by natural radioactivity. However, most of the sites contaminated by radioactive substances and today requiring management have been the seat of past industrial activities, dating back to a time when knowledge of the radioactivity-related risks was not what it is today. The main industrial sectors that generated the radioactive contamination identified today were radium extraction for medical and parapharmaceutical needs, from the early 1900s until the end of the 1930s, the manufacture and application of luminescent radioactive paint for night vision, and the industries working ores such as monazite or zircons. Sites contaminated by radioactive substances are managed on a case-by-case basis, which necessitates having a precise diagnosis of the site. Article L.125-6 of the Environment Code provides for the State to create soil information sectors in the light of the information at its disposal. These sectors must comprise land areas in which the knowledge of soil contamination justifies –particularly in the case of change of use– carrying out soil analyses and taking contamination management measures to preserve safety, public health and the environment. Decree 2015-1353 of 26 October 2015 defines the conditions of application of these measures. The Regional Directorates for the Environment, Land Planning and Housing (Dreals) coordinate the soil information sector development process under the authority of the Prefects. The ASN regional divisions contribute to the process by informing the Dreals of the sites they know to be contaminated by radioactive substances. The soil information sector development process is progressive and is not intended to be exhaustive. Ultimately these sites are to be registered in the urban planning documents. Several inventories of contaminated sites are available to the public and are complementary: Andra’s National Inventory, which is updated every three years and comprises the sites identified as contaminated by radioactive substances (the 2018 edition is available on andra.fr) and the databases of the Ministry responsible for the environment dedicated to contaminated sites and soils. ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2021 361 14 – RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND CONTAMINATED SITES AND SOILS 08 07 13 04 10 06 12 14 03 09 05 11 02 AP 01
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