ASN Report 2017

439 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Chapter 16  - Radioactive waste and contaminated sites and soils Each type of waste requires the implementation of an appropriate and safe management solution in order to control the risks it represents, particularly the radiological risk. 1.1 The legal framework for radioactive waste management Radioactive waste management falls within the general waste management framework defined in Book V, Part IV, Chapter I of the Environment Code and its implementing decrees. Particular provisions concerning radioactive waste were introduced first by Act 91-1381 of 30th December 1991 on research into radioactive waste management, and then by Planning Act 2006-739 of 28th June 2006 on sustainable management of radioactive waste, which gives a legislative framework to management of all radioactive materials and waste. These Acts are codified in Book V, Part IV, Chapter II of the Environment Code. The Act of 28th June 2006 more specifically sets a calendar for research into high and intermediate-level, long-lived (HL and IL-LL) waste and a clear legal framework for ring-fencing the funds needed for decommissioning and for the management of radioactive waste. It also provides for the drafting of the PNGMDR, which prescribes a periodic assessment and the defining of the prospects for the radioactive substance management policy. It also increases the missions of Andra. Finally, it prohibits the disposal in France of foreign waste by providing for the adoption of rules specifying the conditions for the return of waste resulting from the reprocessing in France of spent fuel and waste from abroad. This framework was amended in 2016 with the publication of the Ordinance 2016-128 of 10th February 2016 introducing various provisions with regard to nuclear activities which made it possible to: ཛྷ ཛྷ transpose Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom of 19th July 2011 establishing a European community framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, without calling into question Article L. 542-2 of the Environment Code which prohibits the disposal in France of radioactive waste from foreign countries and of radioactive waste resulting from the reprocessing of spent fuel and the treatment of radioactive waste from abroad, and to detail the conditions of application of this prohibition; ཛྷ ཛྷ define a procedure for the administrative authority to re-qualify materials as radioactive waste; ཛྷ ཛྷ reinforce the existing administrative and criminal penalties and provide for new penalties in the event of disregard of the provisions applicable to radioactive waste and spent fuel or in the event of a breach of the said provisions. The conditions for creating a reversible deep geological repository for HL and IL-LL radioactive waste are detailed in Act 2016-1015 of 25th July 2016. 1.1.1 Production of radioactive waste in installations overseen by ASN  ASN oversees the activities associated with the management of radioactive waste from Basic Nuclear Installations (BNI) or small-scale nuclear activities, other than those linked to national defence which are overseen by ASND and those relative to Installations Classified for Protection of the Environment (ICPE), which are placed under the oversight of the Prefects. Decree 2014-996 of 2nd September 2014, amending the nomenclature of the ICPEs, defines the division of authority with regard to the oversight of installations which hold radioactive substances or manage radioactive waste. Consequently, the licensing of radioactive substances in sealed form (called “sealed sources”) is now governed solely by the Public Health Code and is therefore regulated by ASN. The licensing of non-sealed radioactive substances and of radioactive waste, however, is governed by the Environment Code if the volume present in the facility exceeds 10m 3 for either of these categories, and by the Public Health Code if not. Production of radioactive waste in the BNIs In France, the management of radioactive waste in BNIs is governed in particular by the Order of 7th February 2012 setting the general rules relative to BNIs, of which Part VI concerns waste management. The absence of release thresholds 1 is a particularity of the French regulations. In concrete terms, application of this doctrine leads, in BNIs, to the establishing of a waste zoning plan which identifies the zones in which the waste produced is or could be contaminated or activated. As a protective measure, the waste produced in these zones is managed as if it were radioactive and must be directed to dedicated routes. Waste from other areas, once confirmed as being free of radioactivity, is sent to authorised routes for the management of hazardous, non-hazardous or inert waste, depending on its properties. The regulations also oblige the licensees to conduct waste management studies setting out the licensee’s targets for limiting the volume and the radiological, chemical and biological toxicity of the waste produced in its facilities and to reduce, by recycling and treating this waste, the final disposal volume reserved for ultimate waste. This study shall consider the installations’ waste management routes through to disposal. ASN resolution 2015-DC-0508 of 21st April 2015 relative to the waste management study and the assessment of the waste produced in the BNIs details the provisions of the Order of 7th February 2012, particularly concerning : ཛྷ ཛྷ the content of the waste management study, which must be submitted when a BNI is commissioned and kept up to date throughout its operation; ཛྷ ཛྷ the procedures for drawing up and managing the waste zoning plan; ཛྷ ཛྷ the content of the annual waste management assessment which each installation must transmit to ASN. ASN Guide No. 23 presents the conditions of application of this resolution with regard to the drawing up and modification of the waste zoning plan. 1 . Activity thresholds below which it would be possible to consider that very low-level waste produced in a nuclear facility could be managed in a conventional disposal route without a requirement for traceability.