∙ The malfunctions with Melox are still causing faster than anticipated, saturation of the storage capacity for plutoniumbearing materials, requiring the creation of new storage areas for these materials at La Hague. An initial extension was authorised by ASN in April 2022 and a second is currently being examined by ASN. ∙ The capacity situation of the La Hague evaporators, used for the concentration of nitric acid solutions of fission and transuranic products, remains a subject requiring particular attention: ‒ as part of the replacement of the UP3 evaporation capacity (“NCPF” programme), the fission products evaporatorconcentrators of the UP3 plant were definitively shut down in September 2022. Their replacement by three new evaporators is now being completed, with testing under way since September 2022 and start-up scheduled for March 2023; ‒ the malfunctions with the evaporation capacity in the R7 unit led Orano to ask for a fourth extension for use of the evaporators in the UP2-400 plant in order to carry out the reprocessing and vitrification programmes of the UP2‑800 plant in accordance with the forecasts. ∙ The authorisation application file for densification of the pools at La Hague was submitted at the end of December 2022, with deployment planned for mid-2024 at best. This project, which consists in replacing the baskets currently used in pools C, D and E by more compact baskets, in compliance with the limits set by the creation authorisation decrees of BNIs 116 and 117, constitutes one of the countermeasures identified to deal with the delay in commissioning of a centralised storage pool. ∙ The commissioning of two of the four uranium storage buildings in the new FLEUR BNI on the Tricastin site, as well as the commissioning in September 2022 of a new CSD-V waste storage pit at La Hague means that additional storage capacity is now available for reprocessed uranium and high level, longlived waste (HLW-LL) from the reprocessing of spent fuels. 1.5 Outlook: planned facilities “New Concentration of Fission Products” (NCPF) project on the La Hague site In order to replace the fission products evaporator-concentrators at La Hague, which are suffering from a more advanced stage of corrosion than imagined in the design, Orano is building new units, called “NCPF”, comprising six new evaporators. This particularly complex project required several authorisations and was the subject of an ASN resolution in 2022 concerning the commissioning of three of these evaporators (NCPF T2) with start-up planned for March 2023. The commissioning authorisation for the three other evaporators (NCPF R2) is envisaged for some time in 2023. Construction of new storage capacity for waste packages To anticipate the saturation of storage capacity for CSD-V (units R7, T7 and E/EV/SE), construction work on new storage facilities, known as the “glass storage extension on the La Hague site” (E/EV/LH) began in 2007. These facilities are being built module by module, with the construction of identical units called “pits”. On 8 September 2022, ASN authorised the introduction of radioactive waste packages into pit 50 in the E/EV/LH2 unit. Pit 60 is under construction in order to boost storage capacity. In addition, an extension to the CSD-C storage facility was also authorised by the Decree of 27 November 2020; ASN had issued a favourable opinion regarding this draft text on 8 September 2020. Construction is under way and the introduction of radioactive substances into this extension for the first time will require authorisation from ASN. In 2023, Orano envisages submitting an application for a substantial modification of the Creation Authorisation Decree of BNI 116 (UP3-A) to increase the storage capacity for CSD-C waste packages and CSD-V waste packages. This application will be the subject of a public inquiry. The special fuels reprocessing unit project In order to receive and reprocess the special fuels irradiated in the Phénix reactor or other research reactors, Orano transmitted the Safety Options Dossier (DOS) in 2016 for a new special fuels reprocessing unit, on which ASN issued an opinion in March 2017. The licensee submitted new safety options for this project in January 2020. ASN issued its observations on this Dossier on 9 December 2020. In 2022, Orano informed ASN that this project had been abandoned owing to the failure to reach a financing agreement with those in possession of the fuels to be reprocessed. Orano is now envisaging reprocessing by means of the future renewal of the dissolution units at La Hague. EDF centralised storage pool project During the public debate held in 2019, prior to the fifth edition of the National Radioactive Materials and Waste Management Plan (PNGMDR), EDF reaffirmed that the strategy to increase the spent fuel storage capacity is based on the construction of a new centralised storage pool. This new facility should allow storage of spent fuels for which reprocessing or disposal can only be envisaged in the long-term future. The envisaged operating life for this storage facility is about a century. In 2017, EDF transmitted a DOS for this project. In July 2019, ASN issued its opinion on the safety options presented by EDF for such a facility and considers that the general safety objectives and the design options adopted are satisfactory. In 2020, EDF indicated a delay in this storage pool project, which is to be installed on the La Hague site but will not be in service before 2034. In 2021, EDF referred this project to the CNDP and a prior consultation under the auspices of the CNDP was organised by EDF from 22 November 2021 to 8 July 2022, with a suspension running from 2 February to 20 June 2022. The guarantors appointed by the CNDP submitted the results of the consultation on 8 August 2022, to which EDF replied on 7 October 2022, stating that they wished to continue with the project and prepare submission of the creation authorisation application for the installation by the end of 2023. ASN recalls the importance of obtaining new spent fuels storage capacity meeting the most recent safety standards as soon as possible, in order to address the problem of saturation of the existing capacity, for which there is no alternative equivalent to the centralised storage pool. As of 2018, ASN had asked EDF to present the countermeasures it envisaged for this situation, given the possible saturation of French spent fuel storage capacity by the time of this commissioning. The countermeasures envisaged by EDF, together with Orano, are to increase the density in the La Hague pools, increase the use of MOX fuels in the reactors, subject to return to nominal operation by the Melox plant, and use dry storage of spent fuels. La Hague pools densification project In November 2020, Orano submitted a DOS. In order to promote technical discussions on this dossier, ASN created a pluralistic working sub-group at the beginning of 2021 to take part in the proceedings of the PNGMDR working group, to which the members of the La Hague Local Information Committee (CLI) had been invited. ASN issued a position statement on this dossier on February 2022. In a letter of 14 February 2022, ASN considers that the safety options presented by the licensee ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2022 325 • 11 • “Nuclear fuel cycle” facilities 11 01 07 08 13 AP 04 10 06 12 14 03 09 05 02
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