ASN Report 2020

ASN also highlights the need to involve all the stakeholders concerned , notably the representatives of the regions involved or liable to be involved, via multicriteria and multi­ player analyses, in particular for the choice of management of very low level waste, low level/long-lived waste, legacy waste locations for radioactive waste, mining processing residues and uranium mine waste rock. Finally, ASN recalls that the management of very low level waste should in principle be based on the origin of the waste and guarantee its traceability, by means of specific routes. However, the recovery of certain types of waste, which will be produced in large volumes, is encouraged. ASN notably recommends the creation of a specific oversight framework for continuation of the metals recycling facility project. In 2021, the MTE will oversee the drafting of this 5th Plan, it environmental assessment and the public consultation. ASN will then issue an opinion on the draft regulatory produced by the MTE . The Plan will then be made public and transmitted to the Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technical Choices for its opinion. These opinions, which can be consulted on asn.fr , is ASN’s contribution to the production of the next edition of the PNGMDR, emphasising the main nuclear safety and radiation protection issues. They more particularly draw the Government’s attention to the following. First of all, ASN stresses the importance of planning ahead when defining the management options for radioactive materials and waste, so that concrete prospects for safe and lasting management of all types of waste for the 2035/2040 time-frame can be defined . More specifically: • the need for the nuclear licensees to use all necessary means for retrieval and conditioning of legacy interme­ diate and high level waste, giving priority to safety aspects; • the need for the producers to implement an ambitious pro- gramme to characterise bituminous waste packages , which is essential in order to develop the demonstration that some or all of the bituminous waste packages could be disposed of in the Cigéo facility without prior processing and with a high level of safety; • the lack of credibility in the prospects for transmutation on an industrial scale of the waste already conditioned in the Cigéo reference inventory. If studies were to continue on the subject, they should cover the radioactive substances currently categorised as materials, or the waste produced by a future fleet of reactors ; • the need to plan ahead for storage needs. More specifically, the construction of additional spent fuel storage capac- ity is a strategic issue for the overall safety of the nuclear installations. As EDF chose the option of a centralised EDF fuel storage pool, ASN considers that it must submit a crea- tion authorisation application as soon as possible; • the fact that the recoverable nature of the material must be assessed, taking account of the time-frames within which industrial solutions for using these materials will be avail- able, and the volume of material concerned. ASN considers that it is essential that a substantial quantity of depleted uranium be requalified as waste, as of now ; • the need for the next multi-year energy plan to define reprocessing prospects beyond 2040 . For the production of the 5th edition of this Plan, the Ministry for Ecological Transition (MTE) chose to rely on an orientations commission, chaired by an independent qualified person, and consisting of radioactive waste producers, licensees of management facilities for this waste, environmental protection associations and national elected officials and representatives from the local authorities. It issues opinions on each topic debated, which will be taken into account in the drafting of the next plan. Classification of radioactive wastes and corresponding management routes CATEGORY VERY SHORT LIVED WASTE SHORT LIVED WASTE LONG LIVED WASTE Very Low Level (VLL) Management by radioactive decay Surface disposal (Industrial centre for collection, storage and disposal) Low Level (LL) Surface disposal (Aube and Manche waste repositories) Near-surface disposal being studied Intermediate Level (IL) High Level (HL) Not applicable Cigéo geological disposal project LL/ILW-SL VLL LL‑SL ILW-LL HL VSL ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 33 NOTABLE EVENTS 2020