The safety expert body had been contacted by the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), the sector watchdog, which will have to decide on the request for authorization for the project which aims to bury the waste 500 meters underground. the most radioactive in the Meuse.
New studies would be necessary to ensure that the Cigeo radioactive waste burial project can properly accommodate waste from new reactors that the State plans to launch, indicates a report by IRSN experts, which notes several ” uncertainties” about the project. The Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), the safety expert body, was contacted by the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), the sector watchdog, which will have to decide on the authorization request of Cigéo, which aims to bury the most radioactive waste 500 m underground, in the Bure sector (Meuse).
The IRSN, in this opinion published Monday, underlines that “uncertainties remain” on the dimensioning of the reference inventory which lists the waste accumulated in France since the beginnings of the nuclear fleet. These uncertainties reflect questions that remain to be resolved on the packaging of certain waste or even the storage methods (with or without containers).
Specify the well digging method
IRSN is also looking at the impact of the vast nuclear recovery program announced in 2022 by Emmanuel Macron, which plans the construction of at least six new generation reactors with an option for eight additional. For the announcements already made (extension of the operating life of the current fleet to 60 years and commissioning of six EPR2s), the IRSN has no objection at this stage.
“The extent of the storage could exceed the current limits of the underground works installation zone (ZIOS) by a few hundred meters to a few kilometers, while remaining in the transposition zone in which the feasibility of a storage facility has been shown in 2005,” he notes.
On the other hand, other questions will arise if the relaunch of nuclear power goes beyond this, with the construction of eight additional EPR2s or small reactors (SMR), such as the State is considering without having officially approved it. In this hypothesis, “the capacity of the installation to store more waste will have to be evaluated on the basis of new adaptability studies over time horizons which can be defined when decisions on the future park have been taken”, notes l ‘IRSN. The Institute also makes two technical recommendations, advocating a geological reconnaissance in a particular area of the project and asking to specify the method of digging the wells.
Cigeo’s formal request for authorization was submitted at the beginning of 2023, for this contested project which, however, will not be able to obtain the green light for several more years. To complete the investigation into this authorization request, the safety experts will have to submit two other reports.
 too small?){kind=link}