The French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) gave a green light to the country's Cigeo radioactive waste deep disposal project for high level, or intermediate level long-lived radioactive waste, but with a requirement for further clarification on safety concerns, according to the ASN on Tuesday.
'The Cigeo project has on the whole achieved sufficient technical maturity at the safety options file stage,' the statement read. 'It also considers that the safety options file is documented and substantiated and constitutes a significant step forward with respect to the previous files submitted to ASN for its opinion.'
However, certain matters on the safety options file need to be supplemented in view of the 'creation authorization application' that the National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (ANDRA) intends to submit in 2019, ASN said.
'The main supplements requested justification on the disposal architecture, the design and sizing of the installation to withstand natural hazards, the monitoring of the facility and the management of post-accident situations,' according to the ASN.
ASN is also sending ANDRA a letter 'specifying the satisfactory safety options and the additional studies and demonstrations necessary for the creation authorization application.'
The requests in this letter take account of the public's suggestions and comments.
In April 2016, ANDRA sent ASN safety options file (DOS) for the Cigeo radioactive waste deep disposal project. Submission of a DOS means that the project becomes part of a process governed by the regulations concerning basic nuclear installations, more specifically by article 6 of the decree of Nov. 2, 2007.
After ASN examined this file, it requested an expert assessment from its technical support organization, IRSN. The Advisory Committee assessed this file and submitted it for review by experts from foreign safety regulators, coordinated by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
By Huseyin Erdogan
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr