In its opinion 2020-AV-0369 of 1 December 2020 on the studies into the management of HL and ILW-LL waste, ASN observed that the waste producers had generally well identified the saturation dates of the existing storage facilities and the future storage needs for the next twenty years. It did however indicate that the storage capacity estimates should be consolidated by all the producers by integrating margins to allow for any contingencies affecting the waste management routes concerned. The work carried out under the PNGMDR 2016-2018 The studies required by the PNGMDR 2016-2018 focus on the analysis of the storage needs for HL and ILW-LL waste packages and take up the broad lines of the ASN opinion of 25 February 2016. Article D. 542-79 of the Environment Code, introduced by the Decree of 23 February 2017 relative to the provisions of the PNGMDR 2016-2018, stipulates that the holders of spent fuel and HL and ILW-LL radioactive waste must keep up to date the availability status of the storage capacities for these substances by waste category and identify the future storage capacity needs for the next twenty years at least. The CEA, EDF and Orano have defined the future storage needs for all families of HL and ILW-LL waste, until 2040. The CEA, EDF and Orano have also studied, within this context, how sensitive the storage needs are to shifts in the Cigéo schedule. In its opinion 2020-AV-0369 of 1 December 2020, ASN estimates in this respect that the dates of saturation of the existing storage capacities and the future storage needs until 2040 have on the whole been well identified by the producers. Nevertheless, the storage capacity estimates must be consolidated by all the waste producers, integrating margins to cope with any contingencies affecting the waste management routes concerned and thereby be able to anticipate the needs for additional storage capacities and the corresponding licensing procedures. Article 52 of the Order of 23 February 2017 requires Andra to substantiate the reasons that led it to reject the option of designing near-surface storage facilities. In response to this requirement, in 2018 Andra submitted a comparative study of the different types of storage it has studied. In its opinion 2020-AV‑0369 of 1 December 2020, ASN confirms that near-surface storage facilities have no decisive advantage in terms of nuclear safety and radiation protection over surface storage facilities. The PNGMDR 2016-2018 sets out several guidelines for the design of HL and ILW-LL waste storage facilities (significant design margins, simple and modular architecture favouring passive systems, provisions for controlling the ambient storage conditions in normal, incident and accident situations, provisions for monitoring and surveillance and deviation management defined at the design stage, provisions for preserving the memory, etc.). ASN will be attentive to the integration of these recommendations in the new facilities that will be necessary pending commissioning of Cigéo. Reversible deep geological disposal Deep geological disposal is called out by Article L. 542-1-2 of the Environment Code, which stipulates that “after storage, ultimate radioactive waste which, for nuclear safety or radiation protection reasons, cannot be disposed of on the surface or at shallow depth, shall be disposed of in a deep geological repository”. The Act of 28 June 2006 assigns Andra the task of devising a project for a deep geological disposal facility which shall be a BNI, governed by the regulations specific to this type of installation, and as such shall be subject to ASN oversight. The principle of this type of disposal Deep geological disposal of radioactive waste consists in emplacing the radioactive waste in an underground facility specially designed for this purpose, complying with the principle of reversibility. The characteristics of the geological layer are intended to confine the radioactive substances contained in this waste. Such a disposal facility – unlike storage facilities – must be designed such that long-term safety is ensured passively, that is to say without depending on human actions (such as monitoring or maintenance activities) which require oversight, the durability of which cannot be guaranteed beyond a limited period of time. Lastly, the depth of the disposal structures must be such that they cannot be significantly affected by the expected external natural phenomena (erosion, climate change, earthquakes, etc.) or by human activities. In 1991, ASN published Basic Safety Rule RFS III-2-f defining the objectives to be set in the design and works phases for final disposal of radioactive waste in deep geological formations, in order to ensure safety after the operational life of the repository. In 2008 it published an update of this document in the form of a safety Guide relative to radioactive waste disposal in deep geological formations (ASN Guide No. 1). The conditions of creation of a reversible deep geological repository for HL and ILW-LL radioactive waste were specified by the Act of 25 July 2016, which defines the principle of reversibility, introduces the industrial pilot phase before complete commissioning of Cigéo and brings schedule adaptations concerning the deployment of Cigéo. This Act defines reversibility as “the ability, for successive generations, to either continue the construction and then the operation of successive sections of a disposal facility, or to reassess previous choices and change the management solutions. Reversibility is materialised by the progressive nature of the construction, the adaptability of the design and the operational flexibility of placing radioactive waste in a deep geological repository which can integrate technological progress and adapt to possible changes in waste inventory following a change in energy policy. It includes the possibility of retrieving waste packages from the repository under conditions and over a time frame that are consistent with the strategy for operation and closure of the repository”. In its opinion 2016-AV-0267 of 31 May 2016 relative to the reversibility of the deep geological disposal of radioactive waste, ASN had considered that the principle of reversibility implied a requirement for adaptability of the facility and retrievability of the packages during a period governed by law. The Decree of 23 February 2017 relative to the provisions of the PNGMDR details certain principles applicable to Cigéo, and more particularly in Articles D. 542-88 to D. 542-96 of the Environment Code. Article D. 542-90 stipulates in particular that “The inventory to be considered by the French National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (Andra) for the studies and research conducted for the design of the repository provided for in Article L. 542-10-1 shall comprise a reference inventory and a reserve inventory. The reserve inventory shall take into account the uncertainties associated more specifically with putting in place new waste management routes or changes in energy policy. The repository is designed to accept waste from the reference inventory. It shall also be designed by Andra, in consultation with the owners of the substances of the reserve inventory, to be capable of accommodating the substances figuring in that inventory, provided that changes in its design can be implemented if necessary during operation of the repository at an economically acceptable cost”. 366 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2022 • 14 • Radioactive waste and contaminated sites and soils 14
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