France currently has 1.76 million cubic meters of radioactive waste to manage, a stockpile that is expected to grow but which the authorities claim is capable of being handled by retrofitting existing waste storage projects.
An additional 220,000 cubic meters of waste have accumulated over the past five years, representing a 14% increase, according to the National Agency for the Management of Radioactive Waste (Andra).
“This is a common increase linked to the sector’s activity,” said Andra’s inventory manager Philippe Loreaux. “Against the backdrop of a nuclear revival and the anticipated decommissioning of aging reactors, this volume is expected to increase further.” Trying to reassure the skeptics, he added, “The system is resilient in handling it.”
About 90% of the volume–consisting of rubble, beams, and clothing–comprises waste of very low activity or low and intermediate activity with a short half-life (less than 30 years, with surveillance for 300 years).
The remainder includes waste of low and intermediate activity with a long life, along with 4,320 cubic meters of high-activity waste.
The latter accounts for almost all (97.2%) of the recorded radioactivity, with levels reaching several billion becquerels per gram. They originate predominantly from nuclear power generation (over 90%), and to a lesser extent from associated research and defense.
Radioactive for several hundred thousand years, these materials must be buried in a deep underground site currently being excavated in Meuse (the Cigeo project), a subject of intense controversy.
However, these volumes do not currently include what France considers as “materials” as opposed to “waste,” namely, the spent fuel elements that could potentially be reused in future “4th generation” reactors if such reactors were to be developed.
According to Andra, the spent fuels awaiting reprocessing and the recycled uranium obtained from such reprocessing represent several tens of thousands of tons.
With the current reactors alone (57, including the EPR at Flamanville expected by mid-2024, and most of them operating until 60 years), the volume of high-activity waste will more than double, reaching 11,800 cubic meters if France is ultimately able to recycle its fuels. However, if it is forced to abandon recycling, the total to manage will approximate 20,000 cubic meters.
If six additional European Parliamentary Research Services are added–as already announced by the State–this will represent a 16% increase in highly radioactive waste, according to Andra.
Extending the lifespan of 12 reactors by ten years will result in a 2-5% increase in this category of waste.
The French government expressed its desire to expand the capacities of the existing reactors to the greatest extent feasible–while still supporting the concept of small reactors (SMRs) as well–as Emmanuel Macron promised on Monday to announce eight more EPRs in the coming months.
Andra has not yet included these elements in its projections but wants to relay confidence about its ability to manage the waste.
“The progressive development of the Cigeo site offers many possibilities for adaptation. It is not planned to store high-activity waste there until 2080; there can be many meeting points,” said Andra’s safety director Sébastien Crombez.