ASN Report 2017

447 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Chapter 16  - Radioactive waste and contaminated sites and soils in order to ensure safety after the operational life of the repository. In 2008 it published an update of this document which became Safety Guide No.1. The conditions for creating a reversible deep geological repository for HL and ILW-LL radioactive waste are detailed in Act of 25th July 2016. This Act also 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 during a period of time that are consistent with the operating strategy and the closure of the repository.” In its opinion 2016-AV-0267 of 31st 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 23rd 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 shall be designed to accommodate the waste of 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” . Underground laboratory of Meuse/Haute-Marne Studies on deep geological disposal necessitate research and experiments in an underground laboratory. Andra has been operating such an underground laboratory within the Bure municipality since 1999. A fatal accident caused by a structural collapse occurred in 2016. A judicial inquiry is in progress. In the context of the studies on the deep geological disposal, ASN issues recommendations concerning the research and experiments conducted in the laboratory, and ascertains through follow-up inspections that they are carried out using processes that guarantee the quality of the results. Technical instructions Pursuant to the Act of 30th December 1991, and then pursuant to the Act of 28th June 2006 and the PNGMDR, Andra has carried out studies and submitted reports on the deep geological repository. These reports have been examined by ASN – referring in particular to the Safety Guide of 2008 – and it has issued an opinion on them. ASN has thus primarily examined the overall files submitted by Andra in 2005 and at the end of 2009. It issued opinions on these files on 1st February 2006 and 26th July 2011. Andra is continuing its work and has submitted various files to ASN presenting the progress of the studies and work carried out. ASN issued a position statement: ཛྷ ཛྷ in 2013, on the documents produced between  2009 and  2013 – the year of the public debate, and on the intermediate design milestone at the outline stage presented by Andra in 2012; ཛྷ ཛྷ in 2014, on the safety components of the closure structures and the expected content of the safety options dossier for the facility; ཛྷ ཛྷ in 2015, on the control of operating risks and the cost of the project; ཛྷ ཛྷ in 2016, on the components development plan. In this latter opinion ASN once again underlined the need for Andra to make sure that the research and development work is well coordinated with the planned project development phases in order to ensure the availability of the data necessary for the facility’s safety case. The authorisation process The examination of a creation authorisation application for a deep geological disposal facility has not been started. It will not begin until Andra has filed such an application. In 2017 Andra stated that the application was pushed back to mid-2019. Further to the conclusions of the public debate, Andra decided to set up an industrial pilot phase before operating the facility at industrial rates. The Board of Directors of Andra also decided to submit a Safety Options Dossier (DOS) for the Cigéo repository project to ASN before applying for the facility creation authorisation. ASN welcomed this decision which is in keeping with the stepwise development promoted in the ASN Safety Guide relative to radioactive waste disposal in deep geological formations, and informed Andra of its expectations regarding the content of this dossier by letter dated 19th December 2014.