The Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) on Monday called on the authorities to quickly take decisions on nuclear waste management.
"
Decisions will be necessary, in the short term, so that safe management channels are available for all types of radioactive waste in the next 15 to 20 years
," she underlined.
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She insisted in a note on "
the importance of anticipating the management choices of radioactive materials and waste
". This warning comes as France is preparing its fifth national plan for the management of radioactive materials and waste (PNGMDR). ASN has published several opinions, the last one in May, with a view to preparing this plan and it has been issuing more alerts on this subject since the start of the year. In a report recently submitted to parliamentarians, she estimated "
that in the absence of a decision taken in the next five years, no management system would be operational in the next 20 years
". “
The waste storage capacity requirements will therefore not be met
”, according to ASN.
Storage project 500 meters underground
Regarding the most dangerous and radioactive waste, said to be high activity long-lived, she stressed Monday that "
long-term storage can not be a definitive solution
". For this waste, France plans to store 500 meters underground from 2035 in Bure (Meuse): it is the Cigéo project, which still has to obtain a series of authorizations before being formally launched. In the meantime, the waste is stored temporarily. But this Cigeo project, estimated at 25 billion euros, arouses opposition. He was recently at the heart of a criminal trial in Bar-le-Duc, during which the prosecution requested a year in prison against an opponent. The National Agency for the Management of Radioactive Waste (Andra) accounted for 1.67 million cubic meters of radioactive waste in France at the end of 2019, of which about 4,000 m3 of high activity.
