Nulcear waste disposal is a great unsolved problem. Geological repositories have been created by some nations but some have had to be closed because of unanticipated problems. In the U.S., years were spent working on a Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada before the project was cancelled in 1999. The best current estimate is that there will be no permanent geological repository in the U.S. before 2050. Other countries are moving ahead in creating new geological repositories for nuclear waste.
France is currently dependent on fifty eight nuclear power reactors for about seventy five percent of its electricity. In 2006, the French 1991 Waste Management Act was updated to declare that a permanent geological repository was the preferred solution to France's nuclear waste disposal. There are about ten thousand cubic feet of high level radioactive wastes and about one million four hundred thousand cubic feet of long lived intermediate level radioactive wastes in France. These two categories of nuclear waste make up about ninety nine percent of the radioactive wastes generated by France's nuclear power reactors over the past few decades.
Work is starting on the creation of a new geological repository at Cigeo by Assystem, Cegelec and Spretec engineering firms. Cigeo will consist of disposal tunnels called galleries in a layer of clay near Bure, east of Paris. Twenty seven million dollars have been allocated for a four year project during which Assystem will undertake high-level studies followed by detailed design of the technical procedures for the transfer and storage of waste packages at Cigéo.
The Assystem's five month study will focus on creating specifications for Cigeo's systems and procedures. These specifications will then be used to develop a license application. Assystem will also develop a "roadmap" for Cegelec and Spretec representing the best technical and economic solution to France's nuclear waste storage problem.
Andra, the French national radioactive waste disposal company, put out their plans for Cigeo for public comment in 2013. Based on the public input, Andra will conduct a pilot plant test where all of the disposal functions can be tested in real conditions. These include:
· Technical measures to control operating risks
· Capacity to remove packages being disposed of
· Disposal monitoring sensors
· Techniques for sealing cavities and galleries
The public feedback included the desire to allow for easy removal of waste packages from the repository in the future. The public feedback also requested that the entire master plan for Cigeo's development and operation be updated on a regular basis with input from all the different stakeholders as well as the French government.
Next year, Andra will submit the Cigeo master plan to the French government along with optional plans for security and retrievability. They hope to have the license application ready for government review in 2017 with construction beginning in 2020 if the application is approved. Cigeo should be ready for a pilot test of the facility by 2025.
Artist's rendering of Cigeo site:
