An application from national radioactive waste management agency Andra to construct a high-level radioactive waste repository has been deemed to be admissible for review by the French nuclear regulator. This decision will allow the launch of the technical appraisal of the application.
Andra submitted the application for the construction license for the planned Centre Industriel de Stockage Géologique (Cigéo) repository to the Ministry for Energy Transition on the 16th of January this year.
Andra said, “The submission of this application marks a major milestone in the development of the project; it is the culmination of several decades of preliminary research and development work on issues such as site selection, the development of key components for the facility, and its main safety options.”
The authorization procedure consists of two essential phases: appraisal and consultation.
In March of 2023, the ministry asked the Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN) to take the lead in the technical appraisal of the application. The ASN examined the admissibility of the documents submitted by Andra. It concluded that all the documents required by law were included in the submitted documentation. These documents contain the elements required to initiate the analysis and expert appraisal work that lies at the heart of the appraisal procedure.
The ASN mentioned that the application for Cigéo will be examined according to procedures “adapted to the exceptional nature of this project”. The Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), ASN’s permanent expert groups and the National Assessment Board (CNE2) will be involved. Parliament will receive the results of this work.
The technical appraisal of Andra’s application is designed to verify that the Cigéo project offers all the guarantees required to meet the applicable safety requirements. It is estimated that the process will require three years to complete.
In addition to the technical appraisal, CNE2 is expected to submit an opinion on the documentation which will also be sent to parliament. CNE2’s opinion will be based on the scientific content of the application and on its knowledge of the state of the art which will be informed by its annual assessment of the progress of research and studies into the management of radioactive materials and waste.
After the technical appraisal has been completed, the procedure requires consultation with all the institutional entities involved. These include environmental authority, local information commission, local water commission, local authorities concerned, European Commission. The final stage of the process will be a public inquiry.
Once the technical appraisal and consultations have been completed, and if these conclude favorably on the acceptability of the project presented, the Cigéo facilities authorization decree will be published.
Andra intends to construct the Cigéo repository in a natural layer of clay near Bure, to the east of Paris in the Meuse/Haute Marne area. The facility will be financed by radioactive waste generators including EDF, Framatome and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission. It will be managed by Andra. The repository will hold eighty-three thousand cubic meters of long-lived waste and intermediate-level waste.