LES ACTIVITÉS NUCLÉAIRES : RAYONNEMENTS IONISANTS ET RISQUES POUR LA SANTÉ ET L’ENVIRONNEMENT The “release thresholds” applied in some foreign countries determine the contamination levels below which the materials can be exempted from any form of control and used without any restrictions. 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 French regulations also oblige nuclear licensees to present, in the General Operating Rules (RGEs) and the environmental impact assessment of their facility, the wastes produced by the facility, whether radioactive or not, indicating the volumes, types, harmfulness and the envisaged disposal routes. The measures adopted by the licensees must consist in reducing, through recycling and treatment processes, the volume and the radiological, chemical or biological toxicity of the waste produced so that only the ultimate waste has to go to final disposal. ASN resolution 2015-DC-0508 or 21 April 2015 details the provisions of the Order of 7 February 2012, particularly concerning: ∙the procedures for drawing up and managing the waste zoning plan; ∙the content of the annual waste management assessment each BNI must transmit to ASNR. 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. Further to a modification of the regulatory requirements of the Environment Code in 2019, the waste management study is no longer required as a specific document. The provisions it contained must now be carried over to the environmental impact assessment and the BNI RGEs. ASN resolution 2022-DC-0749 of 29 November 2022, approved on 16 February 2023, amended ASN resolution 2015-DC0508 of 21 April 2015 to take into account this regulatory change. 1.2.2 – Legal framework for the management of radioactive waste produced by activities governed by the Public Health Code Article R. 1333-16(6) of the Public Health Code states that the management of effluents and waste contaminated by radioactive substances originating from all nuclear activities involving a risk of exposure to ionising radiation must be examined and approved by the public authorities. This is the case in particular for activities using radioactive substances intended for medicine, human biology or biomedical research. ASN resolution 2008-DC-0095 of 29 January 2008 lays out the technical rules applicable for the disposal of effluents and waste contaminated or potentially contaminated by radionuclides owing to a nuclear activity. ASN published a guide (Guide No. 18) to the application of this resolution in January 2012. Management of disused sealed sources Under the PNGMDR 2016-2018, Andra submitted a report in mid-2018 presenting a review of the situation regarding the acceptance of disused sealed sources considered as waste in the existing and planned disposal facilities. Furthermore, Decree 2015-231 of 27 February 2015 enables holders of disused sealed sources to call upon not only the initial source supplier but also any licensed supplier or – as a last resort – Andra, to manage these sources. The holders are moreover no longer obliged to provide proof that they have contacted all the suppliers before turning to Andra. These provisions aimed to bring a reduction in the costs of collecting disused sources and provide a recovery route in all situations. ASN issued a position statement on 11 May 2021 6. Former Article R. 1333‑12. on the management of disused sealed sources that could not be recycled. It considers that disused sealed sources which cannot be accepted in above-ground disposal facilities must be included in the inventories of projected disposal facilities, and that a complete inventory of the existing management routes must be established, indicating the responsibilities of the various actors. Moreover, ASN recommends that the notion of “last resort” mentioned in Decree 2015-231 must be clarified. The “DECPAR.4” action of the PNGMDR 2022-2026 states that the producers produce an inventory of sealed sources with ownership issues and that a programme of work must be drawn up with Andra to develop management solutions. The volume of sealed sources pending acceptance in a final management solution was introduced as a new monitoring indicator in the PNGMDR 2022-2026. Management by Andra of waste from small-scale nuclear activities Article L. 542-12 of the Environment Code entrusts Andra with a public service mission for the management of waste produced by smallscale nuclear activities. Since 2012, Andra operates Cires, a facility situated in the municipalities of Morvilliers and La Chaise in the Aube département, designed for the collection and storage of waste from “small producers” that are not in the nuclear power sector. ASNR considers that Andra’s actions in this area are appropriate to fulfil its mission assigned under the abovementioned Article L. 542-12 and that they must be continued. In its opinion 2021-AV-0379 of 11 May 2021, ASN recommended that Andra deploys, as soon as possible, the necessary storage capacities to allow the management of the highly tritiated waste and sources containing tritium coming from small producers. Articles 45 to 47 of the Order of 9 December 2022 provide for the continuation of the work undertaken by Andra to identify and define management routes for this waste by 31 December 2025. 1.2.3 – The National Inventory of radioactive materials and waste Article L. 542-12 of the Environment Code assigns Andra the task of establishing, updating every five years and publishing the National Inventory of radioactive materials and waste. This Inventory constitutes an input database for preparing the PNGMDR. The last update was published in December 2023. The Inventory presents information concerning the quantities, the nature and the location of radioactive material and waste by category and economic sector as at the end of 2021. A prospective exercise was also conducted considering four contrasting scenarios for France’s energy policy, as envisaged in the 2019-2028 Multi-Year Energy Plan (PPE). 1.2.4 – The National Radioactive Materials and Waste Management Plan Article L. 542-1-2 of the Environment Code defines the PNGMDR’s objectives: ∙draw up the inventory of the existing radioactive material and waste management methods and the chosen technical solutions; ∙identify the foreseeable needs for storage or disposal facilities and specify their required capacities and the storage durations; ∙set the general targets, the main deadlines and the schedules enabling these deadlines to be met while taking into account the priorities it defines; ∙determine the objectives to be met for radioactive waste for which there is as yet no final management solution; ∙organise research and studies into the management of radioactive materials and wastes, by setting deadlines for the implementation of new management modes, the creation of facilities or the modification of existing facilities. 12 11 10 09 08 01 05 02 06 03 07 04 ASNR Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2025 361 13 A / Z
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