in
France, and subsequently for their management The classification is based on two parameters: the level of radioactivity and the
radioactive half-life of the waste (related to the half-life of all
radionuclides present in the waste). According to French law, radioactive waste is defined as: •
very low-level activity if its activity level is between one and one hundred
becquerels per gram (1 to 100 Bq/g). •
low-level activity if this level is between a few tens of becquerels per gram and a few hundred thousand becquerels per gram (100 Bq/g to 1 MBq/g); •
medium-level activity if this level is approximately one million to one billion becquerels per gram (1 MBq/g to 1 GBq/g); •
high-level activity if this level is on the order of several billion becquerels per gram (GBq/g, levels at which the specific power is on the order of watts per kilogram, hence the designation of "hot" waste); ...and, based on its radioactive half-life: •
very short-lived if its half-life is less than 100 days (which allows management by radioactive decay to treat them as conventional industrial waste after a few years); •
short-lived if its radioactivity mainly comes from radionuclides with a half-life of less than 31 years (which ensures their disappearance on a historical scale of a few centuries); •
long-lived if it contains a significant amount of radionuclides with a half-life exceeding 31 years (which requires confinement and dilution management compatible with geological time scales). The waste manager must also consider its physical characteristics (gas, liquid, solid, powdery or not, etc.) and its potential chemical toxicity, as well as its age and reactivity
High-level and medium-level long-lived waste High-level waste, in solid and stable chemical form (usually
oxides), must be stabilized in a
vitrified matrix. They generate heat and are therefore stored in
deactivation pools or in ventilated facilities. In France, the
La Hague site and the
Marcoule nuclear site host this waste. A "selective separation" process is carried out at the La Hague plant. Then, the
vitrification of non-reusable high-level waste (
fission products,
minor actinides) produces a volume of "highly radioactive waste packages" of about per year.
Long-term management for High-level long-lived waste The Loi Bataille () until 2006, governed three research axes: •
Transmutation and/or
chemical separation: this research axis was entrusted by the legislator, via the Loi Bataille, to the
CEA; •
Deep geological storage of radioactive waste (definitive or reversible); • on the surface or subsurface; this research axis was entrusted by the legislator, via the Loi Bataille, to the CEA, then the responsibility for studies on nuclear storage was transferred to ANDRA in 2006. The loi de programme relative à la gestion durable des matières et déchets radioactifs of entrusts the ANDRA with studying the option of deep geological storage and, more specifically, the possibility of commissioning an industrial "reversible" storage in a geological layer for high-level and long-lived radioactive waste by around 2025 (the
Cigéo project). In , Parliament passed a law setting the framework for the burial of French radioactive waste in the Industrial Geological Storage Center (Cigéo): the authorization decree is expected around 2025, followed by a five-year pilot phase; the center would therefore begin operations around 2030. On 8 July 2022, the
Déclaration d'utilité publique (DUP) for the Cigéo project was published by decree. ANDRA must then submit its application for site creation authorization to the
Nuclear Safety Authority, whose review will take between three and five years.
Low and medium-level waste (FMA) In France, these are intended to be stored on the surface after being solidified to prevent the dispersion of radioactivity, then encased in concrete, resin, or bitumen to prevent any
chemical reaction and lock the waste in its container. They are ultimately placed in metal or concrete containers, with good mechanical resistance and manageable without specific radiation protection measures. These containers are mainly stored on the surface at two ANDRA sites, designed for this purpose: • the
Manche storage centre located in the commune of
Beaumont-Hague, which received waste packages from 1969 and is filled since 1994. It is now in a monitoring phase; • the Aube storage center located in the commune of
Soulaines-Dhuys, which has been receiving French waste since 1992 for about 40 years. Its storage capacity is one million cubic meters, with drums crushed to reduce volumes. It is currently in the operational phase. Other French nuclear sites contain waste of this category:
Cadarache,
Pierrelatte, etc.
Very low-level waste In the case of nuclear facilities, the concepts of very low-level waste (TFA) and waste zoning stem from the interministerial decree of , setting the general technical regulations to prevent and limit nuisances and external risks resulting from the operation of basic nuclear installations. TFA waste, mainly from
nuclear decommissioning, is compacted and packaged in
big bags or metal containers. They are stored in cells dug into
clay, with the base designed to collect any infiltrated water during the entire storage period. Since , some TFA waste packages are stored on the surface at the Morvilliers storage center.
Low-level long-lived waste These include, in particular, radium-bearing waste and
graphite waste, or bituminized effluents, substances containing radium, uranium, and thorium with low specific activity, as well as certain used sealed radioactive sources with long-lived low activity. == Production and management of radioactive waste in France ==