2. These are the categories in use in France. They may be different in other countries. 3. There is no such thing as high level, very short-lived waste. CATEGORY Very short-lived waste containing radionuclides* with a half-life < 100 days Short-lived waste in which the radioactivity comes mainly from radionuclides with a half-life ≤ 31 years Long-lived waste mainly containing radionuclides with a half-life > 31 years Very low-level (VLL) Management by radioactive decay on the production site then disposal through routes dedicated to conventional waste Recycling or dedicated surface disposal* (repository at the Industrial centre for collection, storage and disposal in the Aube département – Cires) Low-level (LL) Surface disposal (Aube waste disposal repository – CSA) Near-surface disposal (being studied pursuant to the Act of 28 June 2006) Intermediatelevel (IL) High-level (HL) Not applicable(3) Deep geological disposal (Cigéo, planned pursuant to the 28 June 2006 Act) VSL VLL LL/ ILW-SL LLW-LL ILW-LL HLW The categories (2) of radioactive waste and their management routes GIVING THE MATTER SOME THOUGHT A radioactive substance contains natural or artificial radionuclides, the activity or concentration of which justifies monitoring to prevent risks. Substance is a general term which covers both radioactive materials and radioactive waste. A radioactive material is a radioactive substance for which subsequent use is planned or envisaged, if necessary, after processing. This is the case of the uranium and plutonium obtained from spent nuclear fuel* reprocessing, or the technetium used in medicine. France made the decision to reprocess the spent fuel from its nuclear power plants, with up to 96% of the materials being reusable as a raw material in the fabrication of various fuels, while the rest (about 4%) is waste. Radioactive waste • 9
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