2. Nuclear safety in waste management support facilities, role of ASN and waste management strategies of the major nuclear licensees 2.1 Nature of ASN oversight and actions 2.1.1 The graded approach 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 with respect to waste zoning, packaging or the controls performed by 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 in a manner proportionate to the nuclear safety issues associated with each waste management step and each facility. Thus, the waste management BNIs are classified in one of three categories, numbered from 1 to 3 in descending order of significance of the risks and adverse effects they present. This categorisation is taken into account in the preparation of the inspection schedule and helps to determine the level of expertise required for the examination of certain files submitted to ASN by the licensees. The various facilities and ASN’s assessment of their level of safety are presented in the introduction of this report. 2.1.2 Radioactive waste management support facilities Treatment Treatment is a fundamental step in the radioactive waste manage– ment process. This operation serves to separate the waste into different categories to facilitate its subsequent management and to significantly reduce the volume of waste. The La Hague plants, which process and recycle the spent fuel assemblies, are involved in this process because they apply a dissolution and chemical treatment process to separate the cladding and the fission products. The hulls and end-pieces are then compacted to reduce their disposal footprint. Centraco, the low-level waste treatment and packaging centre operated by Cyclife France, significantly reduces the volume of the low and very low-level waste that is sent to it. 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 (Agathe – BNI 171), with this same aim of volume reduction. BNI 35 La Hague site disposal BNI 66 ✱ packaging and disposal BNI 149 Aube repository (CSA) storage ▲ treatment/ processing and packaging packaging, storage and disposal treatment, packaging and storage Liquid Effluent Management Zone (ZGEL) Industrial centre for grouping, storage and disposal (Cires) Tritiated waste storage building Manche repository (CSM) packaging and storage storage BNI 74 ● BNI 173 sorting BNI 138 Tricastin site formerly Socatri Storage of irradiated graphite sleeves Activated waste packaging and storage facility (Iceda) storage ● Waiting for commissioning ✱ Comes under the status of ICPE ▲ Comes under the status of DBNI storage treatment storage packaging and storage ▲ CDS ● BNI 177 BNI 160 BNI 171 BNI 164 BNI 37-A ✱ Rotonde STEMA BNI 175 treatment/processing and packaging treatment/ processing and packaging treatment/ processing and packaging treatment/ processing and packaging Solid Waste Treatment Station (STD) Radioactive waste packaging and storage facility (Cedra) Advanced effluent management and treatment facility (Agate) Low-level waste treatment/ processing and packaging centre (Centraco) Irradiating or alpha waste from decommissioning facility (Diadem) Contained storage of conversion residues (Écrin) ▲ La Hague Saclay Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux Morvilliers Bugey Tricastin Marcoule Cadarache Malvési Soulaine-Dhuys Valduc THE MAIN SUPPORT FACILITIES FOR RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2022 369 • 14 • Radioactive waste and contaminated sites and soils 14 01 07 08 13 AP 04 10 06 12 03 09 05 11 02
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