P. BODÉNEZ
Directorate General for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
Email: philippe.bodenez@asm.minefi.gouv.fr Presented by R. Cailleton
Abstract
The development of a National Plan for Radioactive Waste and Recoverable Material Management is a priority for the French Nuclear Safety Authority. The main objective is to define a management solution for each type of radioactive waste produced. Radioactive waste without an existing management solution is to be clearly identified and management solutions are to be proposed within a reasonable time frame. The plan should take into account principles being applied for waste in general and also for radiation protection. The Nuclear Safety Authority is overseeing the production of the plan which is submitted periodically to a plenary group in which stake-holders involved in radioactive waste management are represented. A draft of the National Plan for Radioactive Waste and Recoverable Material Management has been available since July 2005 and the plan, in its final version, may become an appendix of the law on high level radioactive waste which is expected to be discussed by Parliament in 2006. The key elements of the plan may also become one of the articles of the law.
1. INTRODUCTION
The need to develop a comprehensive plan for the management of radioactive waste in France was identified a few years ago. One of the objectives of such a plan is to improve transparency, effectiveness and efficiency in the field of radioactive waste management.
Further to a request from the Parliamentary Office for the Assessment of Scientific and Technological Options (OPECST), on the basis of a report produced in 2000 by the Deputy of the Drôme Department, M. Rivasi, the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) confirmed that it was in favour of drawing up a national plan for radioactive waste management. During a presentation to the Council of Ministers on 4 June 2003, the Minister for Ecology and Sustainable Development stated her intention to produce such a plan. On
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behalf of the public authorities, the ASN was given the responsibility for overseeing its production.
The proposal is in conformity with an existing provision in article L.541-11 of the Environment Code (resulting from law 75-633 of 15 July 1975 concerning the disposal of waste and recovery of materials). This article gives the Minister for the Environment the option of drawing up national disposal plans for waste considered to be particularly harmful or requiring special treatment and storage. This option was, for example, used for waste contami-nated by polychloricontami-nated biphenyls (PCB).
For radioactive waste, a more global framework appeared to be necessary, to allow for the consistent management of all radioactive waste, guaranteeing safe management and providing for its financing, in particular, for its disposal.
Representatives of the following stakeholders were invited to take part in the work on the National Plan for Radioactive Waste and Recoverable Material Management: the waste producers, the disposal facilities, the National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (ANDRA), environmental protection associations, elected representatives and the directorates of the ministries concerned.
2. GOALS OF THE NATIONAL PLAN FOR RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND RECOVERABLE MATERIAL MANAGEMENT
The Plan is based on knowledge of the different types of existing radioactive waste described in the reference document National Inventory of Radioactive Waste and Recoverable Material which was published in November 2004 by the National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (www.andra.fr). This inventory enabled the amounts of waste produced to be estimated for various time frames, including the period 2010–2020. The goals of the National Plan for Radioactive Waste and Recoverable Material Management are presented below:
— Clear definition of the waste to be considered as radioactive, taking account of the existence of materials containing natural radionuclides at variable levels and of certain radioactive materials for which reuse has not been envisaged;
— Identification of management solutions for each category of radioactive waste produced;
— Management of older radioactive waste which has been ‘forgotten’;
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— Consideration of the concerns of the public, who rightly or wrongly are worried about the fate of radioactive waste;
— Ensure the consistency of the entire radioactive waste management structure, whatever the level of radioactive concentration or the chemical or infectious toxicity, in particular for waste with an associated ‘mixed’
risk;
— Encourage the waste producers to find optimized waste management solutions: nuclear industry, more conventional industries (in particular those using naturally radioactive substances but for their non-radioactive properties), users of radioactive sources, the medical sector, producers of contaminated earth taken from old polluted sites, the mining industry (uranium mines in particular);
— To achieve consistency in dealing with polluted sites and their reclamation.
The National Plan for Radioactive Waste and Recoverable Material Management does not aim to duplicate the inventory work done by ANDRA.
It is possible that the Plan could bring to light the existence of certain waste that does not appear in the inventory, in particular, through a more detailed definition of what is meant by ‘radioactive waste’.
3. PRINCIPLES OF THE NATIONAL PLAN FOR RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND RECOVERABLE MATERIAL MANAGEMENT The development of a National Plan for Radioactive Waste and Recoverable Material Management is intended to take into account principles regarding waste management and also radiation protection, such as:
— Principles of justification, optimization and limitation required by the radiation protection regulations;
— Minimization of waste production and limitation of the toxicity of the waste;
— Responsibility of the producer until the waste is safely treated and disposed of;
— Informing the public;
— Identification of radioactive waste management routes and prevention of harmful effects on the environment and on human health;
— Minimization of transport;
— Development of solutions for radioactive waste for which no liable producer exists.
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4. INTERFACE WITH RESEARCH INTO HIGH LEVEL LONG LIVED WASTE
For high level long lived waste, research into disposal routes is governed by a law (article L.542 of the Environment Code, resulting from the law of 30 December 1991), which requires that a report on the progress of research into the disposal of high level long lived waste be presented to Parliament before the end of 2006, so that a debate can be held on the follow-up to this research.
Producing a National Plan for Radioactive Waste and Recoverable Material Management does not interfere with this process, which concerns only high level long lived waste. The Plan, above all, meets the need to provide ways for managing and disposing of waste which does not fall into this category, such as disused sealed sources, waste containing radium, graphite waste, dismantling waste, and so on. However, its production at the same time as the Government’s report requested in article L.542 of the Environment Code will give the political decision making bodies an overview of radioactive waste problems in France and will place the special case of high level long lived waste in a broader context.
5. INITIAL CONCLUSIONS
A first version of the national plan for radioactive waste was presented to the members of the plenary group in September 2004. Revised versions have been examined by the group since that time.
Long term management solutions, or research programmes to establish disposal routes, exist for the main part of the waste. For some waste, such as disused sealed sources, further investigation should be conducted to determine long term management solutions. Application of the principle of justification, that came into force in the Public Health Code, could lead the Government to ask for the removal of a great number of radioactive sources (smoke detectors, lightning conductors) which would then have to be properly managed. Disposal routes for the radioactive waste produced by the decommissioning programme of the first generation of nuclear power plants should be determined, especially for graphite waste. The part of the existing mission of ANDRA concerned with recovering and storing radioactive waste from private individuals or establish-ments without the resources to dispose of it, should be recognized as a mission of the public utilities. It also seems to be important to review the consistency of the regulatory provisions concerning radioactive waste and to examine the benefit of requiring a declaration from all radioactive waste producers.
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6. PROSPECTS
The initiative to produce a National Plan for Radioactive Waste and Recoverable Material Management has been, on the whole, warmly received by the various parties involved, including the representatives of activities not normally considered in this context. It should be noted that internationally, this approach has been seen as a good practice, in particular, within the framework of the First Review Meeting of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, which took place in Vienna from 3 to 14 November 2003. The production of a National Plan for Radioactive Waste Management in each country was a recommendation of the Summary Report issued by the review meeting.
A new version of the National Plan has been available since July 2005 and it can be downloaded from the Nuclear Safety Authority web site (www.asn.gouv.fr). In its report of March 2005 on radioactive waste management, the Parliamentary Office for the Assessment of the Scientific and Technological Options announced that the Plan should be an appendix to the law on the management of high level radioactive waste, which is expected to be debated by the Parliament in 2006. The key elements of the National Plan for Radioactive Waste and Recoverable Material Management could become an article of the law.
The Nuclear Safety Authority considers the development of the National Plan for Radioactive Waste and Recoverable Material Management to be a priority and that it will eventually lead to more open, more thorough and safer management of radioactive waste in France.
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Appendix I
RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN FRANCE
TABLE 1. CLASSIFICATION OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN FRANCE Period
activity
Very short lived (half-life <100 days)
Short lived (half-life <30 years)
Long lived (half-life >30 years) Very low level Management by
radioactive decay
Dedicated surface repository Recycling channels
Low level waste Surface disposal
(Aube repository) except disused sealed sources (under investigation)
Dedicated subsurface disposal facilities under investigation
Intermediate level waste
Routes under investigation under the terms of article L542 of the Environment Code (law of 30/12/1991) High level waste
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Appendix II
SUMMARY OF THE SOLUTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN FRANCE
TABLE 2. SOLUTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN FRANCE part of waste from mining of uranium ores
Technologically enhanced normally occurring radioactive waste from past activities
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One part of TABLE 2. SOLUTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN FRANCE (cont.)