Radioactive waste management
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Radioactive
waste management
Collecting, sorting,
treating, conditioning,
storing and disposing
safely radioactive waste.
Thematic series
Radioactive waste is generated not only by the nuclear power industry, but also by hospitals, universities and non-nuclear industries. All the regulations applying to waste in general also apply to radioactive waste. However, radioactive waste emits radiation, which makes it a particular hazard for human health and the environment. It must therefore be managed with special care, from production to final disposal. Finding suitable waste disposal solutions is a major challenge for all stakeholders, industry, regulatory authorities, public authorities, local communities and the population. Fuel assembly.
Radioactive waste management
and disposal
1 n Radioactive waste p. 2
Definitions and classification
n
Management solutions
n
2n Management of long-lived waste _ p. 10
nPartitioning and transmutation
nStorage
n Deep geological disposal
3 n Deep geological disposal
around the world _ p. 15
4 n Deep geological disposal
in France _ p. 20
Scientific and technical challenges for IRSN
n
A specific scientific approach
n
Significant results
n
An informed choice
n
Radioactive waste
Radioactive waste is the term used to describe radioactive subs-
tances for which no further use is planned or considered.
A radioactive substance is The radioactive properties of
one that contains naturally this waste are:
occurring or man-made radio-
n the type of radionuclides
nuclides, the radioactive level
contained and the radiation
or concentration of which
emitted (alpha, beta, gamma),
calls for radiation protection
the activity (number of atomic
control.
nuclei which spontaneously
According to the Frenc h disintegrate per unit time -
Environmental Code (Art. expressed in becquerels);
L 542.1-1), final radioactive
n t he radioactive half-life (the
waste means radioactive waste
time it takes for a radioactive
for which no further treatment
sample to loose half of its
is possible under existing tech-
activity).
nical and economic conditions.
Treatment particularly entails
extracting any part of the waste
that can be recycled or redu-
cing any pollutants or hazar-
dous substances it contains.
The radionuclides contained in
radioactive waste may be man-
made, such as caesium-137,
or found in nature, such as
radium-226.
Containers for
vitrified waste (left)
and compacted
waste (right).
2
Most radioactive waste comes non-nuclear industries and
from the nuclear industry. The defence-related activities.
remainder comes from the use
of radioactive elements in hos-
pitals, universities, and some
Definitions and classification
Radioactive waste is classified and high-level waste. Radioactive
according to its activity level waste is said to be “short-
and the radioactive half-life of lived” if it merely only contains
the radionuclides it contains. radionuclides with a half-life of
The activity level determines less than 31 years.
the degree of protection to be It is said to be “long-lived “if it
provided. Waste is therefore contains a significant quantity
divided into categories, namely of radionuclides with a half-life
very low-, low-, intermediate- of over 31 years.
Radionuclide Half-life
Cobalt-60 5.2 years
Tritium 12.2 years
Strontium-90 28.1 years
Caesium-137 30 years
Americium-241 432 years
Radium-226 1,600 years
Carbon-14 5,730 years
Plutonium-239 24,110 years
Neptunium-237 2,140,000 years
Iodine-129 15,700,000 years
Uranium-238 4,470,000,000 years
3
Waste categories are as follows: part consists either of waste
contaminated by radium
n v e r y s h o r t - l i ve d wa s t e
(known as radium-bearing
(VSLW) much of which comes
waste), resulting mainly from
from medical applications
naturally radioactive raw
of radioactivity (diagnoses
materials used in industry, the
and therapy), containing
retrieval of radium-bearing
radioactive elements with a
objects and the cleanup of
half-life of less than 100 days;
polluted sites, or graphite
n v ery low-level waste (VLLW) waste, which comes from the
which comes from the nuclear decommissioning of old French
industry, in particular from gas-cooled reactors (GCRs);
facility decommissioning
n i ntermediate-level long-
operations. It consists of
lived waste (ILW-LL) most of
very slightly contaminated
which is the result of spent
dismantled equipment parts
fuel reprocessing (spent fuel
and rubble;
claddings, reprocessing sludge,
n low- and intermediate-level etc .) and nuclear facility
short-lived waste (LILW-SL) maintenance work;
which mainly comes from the
n igh-level and long-lived
h
nuclear industry, as well as a
waste (HLW-LL) consisting of
few research laboratories;
products resulting from spent
n l ow-level long-lived waste fuel reprocessing that cannot
(LLW-LL) which for the major be recycled.
Decommissioning
operations (VLLW). Graphite sleeve.
4
Solid waste in cemented drums before Embedding in cement.
being embedded in cement.
Management solutions
Radioactive waste is extremely Treatment and conditioning:
varied in terms of physical and different types of waste under-
chemical form, radioactivity and go different types of treatment
the half-life of the radioactive (incineration, calcination, mel-
elements it contains, as well as ting, compacting, cementation,
volume. In France, a specific pro- vitrification, etc.). It is then sea-
cess is adopted for each category led in a container. The result is a
of waste, including a series of radioactive waste package.
operations such as sorting, treat-
ment, conditioning, storage and Storage and disposal: storage
disposal. facilities are designed to accom-
modate waste packages for a
Sorting: this consists in separa-
limited period of time. Disposal is
ting waste according to its dif-
the final stage of the waste mana-
ferent properties, in particular the
half-lives of the radionuclides it gement process and implies that
contains. It also involves separa- the packages have reached their
ting waste that can be compac- final destination or, at least, that
ted, incinerated or melted down there is no intention of retrie-
to reduce the volume. ving them. That means, of course,
5
VLLW comprises rubble,
scrap metal and
piping, primarily from
decommissioned nuclear
facilities.
that the steps taken must protect was closed in 1994, having
people and the environment both reached its design capacity of
in the short and very long term. 527,000 m3, and the CSA disposal
facility (Aube), opened in 1992
Very short-lived waste (VSLW),
and operated by Andra since.
the radioactivity level of which
disappears almost entirely in a Low-level long-lived waste
few weeks to a few hundred days, (LLW-LL) is stored by the
is stored long enough to decay organisations that generated
before disposal, in particular via it pending a disposal solution.
hospital waste systems.
Intermediate-level long-lived
Ve r y l o w - l e v e l w a s t e waste (ILW-LL, also called
(VLLW) is sent to a disposal “B” waste) is compacted or
facility in Morvilliers (Aube) cemented to make packages
operated by Andra, the French that are stored where the waste
National Radioactive Waste was generated.
Management Agency. Once all
nuclear power plants have been High-level and long-lived
decommissioned, this waste waste (HLW-LL, also called “C”
should represent an estimated waste) is vitrified. This involves
volume of one to two million m3. incorporating highly radioactive
waste in molten glass.
Low- and intermediate-level
short-lived waste (LILW-SL, also The waste, which is in a liquid
called LLW-ILW or “A” waste) is form, is mixed with molten glass
incinerated, melted, embedded and poured into stainless steel
or compacted. Most of it is containers, then hermetically
cemented in metal or concrete sealed by a welded lid. Once
containers. It is disposed of at the glass has cooled down,
two surface facilities: the CSM the radioactivity is trapped
disposal facility (Manche), which inside the matrix.These waste
6
(Marcoule, Gard) or present (La
Hague, Manche) production
sites.
Uranium mill tailings are also
considered as waste. Areva is
responsible for the tailings,
which are disposed of on
twenty or so mining sites. They
represent about 52 million
tonnes of material. All uranium
VLLW comprises rubble, scrap metal and mines in France are now closed.
piping, primarily from decommissioned
nuclear facilities. Spent fuel, which contains
uranium and plutonium and is
stored in spent fuel pools at
Areva’s La Hague plant, is not
packages are currently stored by considered as waste as the
the organisations that generated French Government implements
the waste (CEA, Areva, their past a recycling policy.
Metal Concrete Vitrified Compacted
drum drum waste container waste container
Different types of waste package.
7
Management solutions developed as part of the PNGMDR*
for various waste categories
Half-life Very short-lived Short-lived Long-lived
(less than 100 days) (less than 31 years) (more than 31 years)
Very low-level Dedicated surface disposal
waste Recycling solutions (activity < 100 Bq/g)
Dedicated
Low-level waste subsurface disposal
Surface disposal
(under consideration)
Managed (CSA disposal
Intermediate- by radioactive facility - Aube)
level waste decay
Solutions under consideration under Article 3
of the Programme Act of 28 June 2006
High-level waste
on the sustainable management
of radioactive materials and waste
* French national radioactive materials and waste management programme.
8Every three years, Andra, the French National Radioactive
Waste Management Agency, prepares and publishes
an inventory of radioactive materials and waste in France
Waste Forecasts for Forecasts for
(Equivalent
conditioned m3) existing at the the end of the end of
end of 2010 2020 2030
HLW 2,700 4,000 5,300
ILW-LL 40,000 45,000 49,000
LLW-LL 87,000 89,000 133,000
LILW-SL 830,000 1,000,000 1,200,000
VLLW 360,000 762,000 1,300,000
Management solution
3,600
to be defined
approx. approx. approx.
Total
1,320,000 1,900,000 2,700,000
Volumes at the end of 2010 and forecasts for the end of 2020 and 2030 for each radioac-
tive waste category (National Inventory 2012 - source Andra).
At Andra’s CSA disposal facility (Aube), waste packages are
placed in concrete cells or “disposal structures”.
When they are full, the cells are covered with a concrete
slab and polyurethane membrane.
9Management of
long-lived waste
Three areas of research were securing of radioactive waste
selected by the Act of 30 are implemented.
December 1991 on the mana-
The Act institutes a “National
gement of high-level and
Plan for the Management
long-lived radioactive waste:
of Radioactive Materials and
partitioning-transmutation
Waste” (PNGMDR) and sets
(area 1), deep geological dispo-
deadlines for the main mana-
sal (area 2), conditioning and
gement milestones. A national
long-term storage (area 3).
Areas 1 and 3 are led by the committee is responsible for
CEA and area 2 by Andra. Based making an annual assessment of
on the results of this research, progress in research and design
a new Act was issued in 2006 work on radioactive material
outlining the steps to be taken and waste management, consi-
in waste management. dering the guidelines set out in
the above plan. Decree 2008-
Th e n ew P rog ra m m e Ac t 357 sets out the provisions rela-
2006-739 on the sustainable tive to this plan.
management of radioactive
materials and waste was passed The plan must in particular aim
on 28 June 2006. It stipulates at that the following guidelines
that: are complied with:
n radioactive materials and n r eduction of the quantity and
waste of whatever nature, toxicity of radioactive waste is
resulting in particular from sought in particular by treating
the operation or dismantling spent fuels and by treating and
of installations using radioac- conditioning radioactive waste;
tive sources or materials, are n r adioactive materials awaiting
managed sustainably with due treatment and ultimate
regard for the protection of radioactive waste awaiting
personal health, safety, and disposal are stored in specially
the environment; laid out installations. After
n t o avert or limit the burden storage, ultimate radioactive
that will be borne by future waste, which cannot for nuclear
ge n e ra t i o n s , re s e a rc h i s safety or radiation protection
undertaken and the neces- reasons be disposed of at the
sary means for the definitive surface or at a low depth, are
10disposed of in deep geological level and intermediate-level
formations. long-lived waste to be carried
out in the three complementary
The Act of 2006 provides for areas set out below.
research and design work on high-
Partitioning and transmutation
Principle certain partitioned long-lived
elements (actinides), its appli-
The purpose of partitioning and
cation is certainly very diffi-
transmutation is to reduce the
cult, if not impossible, to other
quantities of long-lived radioac-
tive elements in final waste by elements such as long-lived
separating them using chemi- fission products that are more
cal processes, then transmuting mobile in disposal situations
them under neutron flux, i.e. since they may be soluble and
transforming them into short- liable to move with groundwa-
lived elements. ter. Consequently, partitioning-
transmutation alone does not
The state of research seem to be an alternative to
Research has confirmed that the geological disposal.
objective of partitioning-trans- Under the provisions of the 2006
mutation is highly ambitious. Act, research into the partitio-
Partitioning is a complex exten- ning and transmutation of long-
sion of reprocessing that can lived radioactive elements will
only be considered for cer- be continued.
tain types of long-lived waste. Studies and research in this area
Transmutation presumes the will be carried out alongside
development of new facilities work focusing on new-genera-
(reactors, dedicated particle tion nuclear reactors (see Article
accelerators) and can only be 5 of Programme Act 2005-781
achieved through sustainable
of 13 July 2005 defining energy
programmes spanning a hun-
policy guidelines) and accele-
dred years or so.
rator-driven reactors used for
Moreover, although transmu- waste transmutation.The objec-
tation is capable of destroying tive defined in the Act is to pro-
11vide an assessment of the indus- transmutation and start up a
trial prospects of separation and prototype facility by late 2020.
Aerial view of the Bure laboratory (Meuse/Haute Marne).
12Storage
Principle simplicity and meet the safety
and radiation protection requi-
Storage consists in placing
rements generally imposed on
radioactive waste temporarily
nuclear facilities. Storage is, by
in a specially designed surface
definition, a temporary solution,
or near-surface facility pen-
and the integrity of packages
ding its retrieval for treatment
must be monitored to allow
or removal to dedicated waste
simple and safe retrieval.
management centres. Storage
particularly concerns waste The 2006 Act requires the rele-
awaiting treatment or dispo- vant studies and research to
sal. Industrial storage facilities be completed by 2015 in order
already exist on nuclear sites. to build new storage facilities
or modify existing facilities to
Storage safety
meet the requirements (capa-
Storage facilities must be desig- city, lifetime, etc.) set out in the
ned to combine robustness and PNGMDR.
Vitrified waste storage View from above the shafts
(Marcoule).
13Deep geological disposal
Principle The geological disposal concepts
studied are based on a multiple-
This involves placing waste
barrier principle to prevent water
packages in underground struc- from coming into contact with the
tures dug in an impermeable waste and limit any subsequent
geological medium with favou- dispersal of radioactive
rable properties in terms of its substances. The barriers
geological stability, hydro- include the waste packages,
geology, geochemistry and the “engineered barrier”, which
response to mechanical and is the manufactured material
thermal stress. that may be placed between
the waste package and the
The selected medium must
bedrock, and the geological
avoid areas of outstanding
barrier, which is the bedrock
interest in terms of exploitable itself. The geological medium
underground resources and the accommodating the disposal
structures must be located at facility serves in particular
least 200 m below the ground to confine the radioactive
surface to avoid the effects of substances released as time
erosion and human intrusion. goes by, minimise the migration
The 2006 Act defines disposal rate and procure retention in
in deep geological formations the areas through which the
as a sustainable management substances are transported to
solution while establishing the benefit from radioactive decay.
principle of reversibility. The The Programme Act of 2006
minimum period for which the stipulates that the licence
reversibility of disposal must be application to build a disposal
guaranteed as a precautionary facility of this type must be
measure will be defined by law. examined by 2015. Subject to
This period cannot be less than this licence, the facility will be
a hundred years. commissioned by 2025.
14Deep geological disposal
around the world
Most countries now consider Countries with a large number of
deep geological disposal as nuclear power plants are among
the standard solution for final the most active participants
management of high-level in this area. They include the
and intermediate-level long- United States, Canada, Japan,
lived waste. The topic is the China, Korea and, in Europe,
subject of regular international Germany, Sweden, Finland, the
discussions. United Kingdom, Belgium and
Switzerland.
These discussions are aimed at
highlighting common technical The strategies adopted and the
principles, sharing experience progress in programmes with a
and pooling research resources. view to commissioning a deep
In particular, they are part of geological waste disposal faci-
the work initiated by the OECD/ lity vary from one country to
NEA*, the IAEA** and the another.
European Commission***.
notes
* In particular within the Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC)
or the Integration Group for the Safety Case of Radioactive Waste Repositories
(IGSC).
** In particular through the publications of the Waste Safety Standards
Committee (WASSC).
*** In particular through the Research and Development Framework Programme
in the nuclear field (EURATOM FP).
15Vitrified waste storage
View of the lower part of the shafts (La Hague).
The research and studies in research programmes in Belgium
progress mainly focus on three (Boom clay) and Switzerland
types of geological formation: (Opaline clay). In Germany, the
n granite; focus is on salt formations.
n s edimentary formations and, Some countries – in particular
more especially, clay beds; the United States, Germany
and Finland – have designed or
n salt. used underground installations
Programmes in Sweden and for radioactive waste disposal.
Finland focus on disposal in gra- In the United States: since 1999,
nite bedrock. Granite is also stu- defence-related waste has been
died in Korea, Japan, Switzerland disposed of at the WIPP (Waste
and China.
Isolation Pilot Plant) where it is
Clay formations have long been placed in facilities dug in a salt
at the centre of major studies and formation.
16In Germany: an old salt mine waste – both long- and short-
in Morsleben in former East lived (LILW-SL). There are several
Germany was used for the disposal strategies for managing short-
of radioactive waste until 1998. lived waste (disposal in geological
Another site, Konrad, has been formations for some and surface
licensed to host a geological disposal for the rest), but they
waste disposal facility. All German are motivated not by safety
radioactive waste that does not considerations but by political
release heat should be disposed decisions (generally depending on
of here. The site was once an iron the economic and social context).
mine in a sedimentary formation. All the countries concerned have
agreed on the best practices to
Until 1978, some low- and be implemented regarding the
intermediate-level radioactive safety of waste disposal facilities,
waste was disposed of at an and to that end have approved the
experimental centre built in a international standards published
former mine in a salt dome in on this topic by the IAEA.
Asse in Lower Saxony. Since the
end of the 1980s, however, water A deep geological disposal facility
infiltration had been observed has yet to be commissioned
in this dome and the German for high-level and long-lived
authorities ultimately decided to radioactive waste. However,
retrieve the waste and restore the projects in some countries are at
mine. an advanced stage and, in some
cases, the licence application
In Finland: two facilities have procedure is under way.
been dug in granite formations
at a depth of 70 to 100 m for In the United States: a licence
the disposal of waste from the application to construct and
Olkiluoto and Loviisa nuclear operate a waste repository on
power plants. Located near the the Yucca Mountain site was sub-
mitted in 2008. The formation
two NPPs, the disposal facilities
concerned consists of volcanic
have been in operation since 1992
tuff formed 11 to 14 million
and 1997 respectively.
years ago. Exploratory studies
Other countries such as Korea, are conducted on the site from
Canada and Hungary also plan to an underground facility excava-
use underground installations for ted in 1993 to demonstrate the
their low- and intermediate-level feasibility of a disposal facility.
17Each package has its own bar code specifying its origin
and the level and type of radioactivity it contains.
At present, the project has been 2009 as the possible site for a
suspended. disposal facility.
In Finland: the operator Posiva The licence application to build
Oy submitted a licence applica- a waste disposal facility there
tion at the end of 2012 to build a was submitted in March 2011,
spent fuel disposal facility in the with commissioning expected
granite bedrock at the Onkalo between 2020 and 2025.
site. The facility should be com-
missioned between 2020 and I n m o s t o t h e r c o u n t ri e s ,
2025. An underground labora- except for France, programmes
tory, which will be part of the concerning the search for a site
facility, is under construction to and disposal facility design are
characterise the site in greater at a less advanced stage.
depth. Several countries have decided
In Sweden: investigations were to build underground research
started in 2008 on two granite laboratories to move ahead with
sites: Östhammar near Forsmark, their geological disposal projects.
and Oskarshamn. Östhammar These laboratories generally
near Forsmark was chosen in serve two purposes:
18n improving knowledge and
validating relatively gene-
ral methods and technology
concerning a particular type
of rock;
n r characterising a specific site
o
to assess the feasibility of a
waste disposal facility.
Methodological laboratories
focusing on the first objective
have been built in granite forma-
tions in Canada (the Whiteshell
Underground Research
Laboratory (URL), now being
dismantled, Sweden (Äspö labo-
ratory), Switzerland (Grimsel
laboratory) and, more recent-
ly, Korea (Kaeri Underground
Research Tunnel - KURT) and
Japan (Tono Mizunami URL).
Similar facilities have been built
in clay formations in Belgium
(Mol), Switzerland (Mont-Terri)
and Japan (Horonobe URL). The
IRSN-run Tournemire experi-
mental facility falls within this
category.
A laboratory has been built
in a tuff formation at Yucca
Mountain in the USA for site
characterisation and qualifica-
tion. Another is being built in
Finland (Onkalo on Olkiluoto
island). Andra’s underground
research laboratory in Bure is
a research facility of this type.
19Deep geological disposal
in France
The 2006 Act on nuclear waste disposal facility - www.cigeo.
management confirmed the com), a facility located between
option of reversible disposal in the Meuse and Haute-Marne
a deep geological clay formation departments in eastern France.
for high-level and long-lived The facility will be located
waste. Andra has been entrusted 500 m below the surface in a
with building this facility, which clay formation with properties
is designed to protect people similar to those being studied
and the environment from the at the underground research
radiological hazards related laboratory near the town of
to this waste for hundreds Bure. It is designed for the
of thousands of years. The disposal of high-level waste and
project currently being studied intermediate-level long-lived
is called Cigeo (geological waste.
View of the Cigeo facility.
Scientific and technical challenges for IRSN
IRSN must give an informed opi- requirements are met by this large
nion, within the legal deadlines underground nuclear facility, which
for the various phases of the pro- will be in operation for nearly a
ject, on the degree of short- and century.The main long-term safety
long-term protection from waste- issue is whether the facility and the
related hazards that this method various barriers set up between the
of disposal is able to provide. In waste and surface ecosystems will
2005, Andra’s preliminary report be capable of confining the radio-
led IRSN to issue an initial favou- nuclides for the long -term.
rable opinion on the feasibility of a
In particular, this involves stu-
disposal facility in the 500 m deep
dying and discussing the highly
clay formation studied at the Bure
complex, long-term changes in
laboratory.
the system and the uncertainties
By 2015, the Institute will have surrounding them - radiolysis,
to assess whether the key safety chemical reactions, interactions
20View of a sealing test implemented
at the Tournemire experimental
station (Aveyron).
between the radioactive mate- for more than a century. In parti-
rials disposed of, the components cular, risks relating to fire must be
of the packages and the structure carefully analysed in this unique
(different types of metal and environment, together with those
concrete, etc.), damage caused induced by the simultaneous per-
to the argillite by digging, loca- formance of nuclear and conven-
lised alterations in the undistur-
tional work site activities, as well
bed bedrock - which relate to
the long-term behaviour of the as waste confinement arrange-
structure and its contents. ments.
Another major challenge is to Lastly, the radiological impact
manage the risks induced by the on human health and the envi-
construction and operation of ronment must be assessed both
this facility, which will be open in the short and very long term.
A specific scientific approach
In order to make a fully inde- in areas where scientific and
pendent assessment, IRSN technical uncertainty is large.
cannot base its opinion on
Andra’s results alone, but must The Institute has chosen to opti-
acquire data independently mise its resources by focusing its
of the operator, especially research effort on two objectives
21and setting up partnerships in In addition, IRSN is involved in
France (NEEDS with the CNRS) several research projects orga-
and abroad: nised by the European Union
as part of the research and
n a cquisition of scientific data
development framework pro-
from the Tournemire tunnel,
gramme (FP).
which was dug in bedrock with
similar characteristics to those
Europe has four experimental
in the Meuse/Haute-Marne
research sites in clay formations:
area, as well as in the Mont-
Mol in Belgium, Mont-Terri in
Terri international experimen-
Switzerland, Tournemire and
tal facility;
Bure in France. IRSN (like Andra)
n c arrying out modelling and is involved in several European
developing its capacity for programmes calling for these
simulating various safety- sites and for analytical experi-
related phenomena. Within ments aimed at modelling the
this context, IRSN developed behaviour of the components
MELODIE, a software of the disposal facility and its
application for simulating ultimate environmental impact.
radionuclide transport in
underground formations.
Significant results
New programmes are under way The studies performed and
to support the Institute’s initia- results obtained by IRSN at
tive to assess several key points Tournemire confirmed that the
regarding safety at the future dis- progress of water through the
posal facility. These programmes undisturbed clay formation is
concern, in particular, the impact very slow (a few centimetres in
of excavation regarding bedrock a million years).
damage, the impact of the degra- They also highlighted the
dation products of the materials complexity of forecasting the
brought into the disposal faci- behaviour of rock around the
lity (concrete and metal com- drifts (damage, desaturation,
pounds) on the clay’s confine- etc.). The research carried out
ment capability, and assessing also tested the limits of the
the effectiveness of underground geophysical seismic reflection
structure seals. method for identifying faults
22with slight vertical offset, thus reconnaissance campaign on the
providing vital knowledge for site considered for the future
appraising the results of Andra’s disposal facility.
An informed choice
IRSN’s research programmes design exper tise and the
provide France with an National Assessment Board’s
independent capability for guarantee of scientific rigour
assessing the safety of a with the preliminary research,
this capability, will allow France
geological waste disposal site
to move ahead in an area where
for high-level and long-lived expectations are high among
radioactive waste. all stakeholders, i.e. ensure the
safety of this one-of-a-kind
When the decision is made to nuclear facility that will be the
proceed with the construction keystone of radioactive waste
of the facility, above Andra’s management strategy.
Dry boring in a drift in the Tournemire experimental tunnel (Aveyron).
23Photo credits: Andra (Francis Roux p.4 right/Films Roger Leenhardt p.16/Philippe Demeil p.7 left, p.6-9-12-18-20) n CEA (P. Dumas cover p.13) n Cogema (Philippe Lesage inside front cover/Eurodoc La Hague p.2/Eurodoc Centrimage p.16) n EDF Médiathèque (Henri Cazin p.5 left/Jean-Claude Raoul p.5 right) n IRSN (C. Cieutat p.4 left/Olivier Seignette, Mikaël Lafontan p. 21-23) n SOCODEI (Patrick Lefèvre p.7)
L’IRSN
The French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN)
is responsible for the scientific assessment of nuclear and radiological
risk. It is an “EPIC” (a state-owned industrial and commercial enterprise)
that carries out research and surveys for the French Government and
the general public. It is a reference body both in France and internatio-
nally, with a workforce of over 1700 people who cover a diverse range
of disciplines ranging from life sciences to nuclear physics. It carries out
research and assessments in the following areas of expertise:
n protection of people and the environment against the risks of ionising
radiation;
n safety of facilities and transportation of radioactive material and its
protection against malicious acts;
n monitoring of nuclear materials and products that may be used in the
manufacture of weapons;
n emergency response.
It also provides the public with information.
Radioactive waste
Radioactive waste is generated not only by the nuclear power industry, but
also by hospitals, universities and non-nuclear industries. All the regulations
applying to waste in general also apply to radioactive waste. However,
radioactive waste emits radiation, which makes it a particular hazard for
human health and the environment. It must therefore be managed with
special care, from generation to final disposal. Finding suitable waste dispo-
sal solutions is a major challenge for all stakeholders, industry, regulatory
authorities, public authorities, local communities and the population.
Head office
31, avenue de la Division Leclerc
92260 Fontenay-aux-Roses
RCS Nanterre B 440 546 018
Telephone
+33 (0)1 58 35 88 88
© 2013 IRSN - P. Dumas/CEA
Postal address
B.P. 17
92262 Fontenay-aux-Roses Cedex
France
Website
www.irsn.frYou can also read
