Andra cleared to store more waste in Cires repository

Monday, 22 July 2024

Opened in Morvilliers in 2003, Cires (the Centre Industriel de Regroupement, d'Entreposage et de Stockage) was designed and authorised to receive 650,000 cubic metres of very-low-level radioactive waste (VLLW) - primarily material such as weakly contaminated rubble, earth, scrap metal - in three storage areas, called tranches 1, 2 and 3. By the end of 2022, Cires had reached 69.4% of its total authorised storage capacity. In view of the VLLW delivery forecasts announced by the producers of waste for the coming years, the site - covering 46 hectares - is expected to reach its authorised storage capacity around 2028-2029.

The national inventory of radioactive materials and waste, published by Andra, predicts that between 2,100,000 cubic metres and 2,300,000 cubic metres of VLLW will be produced by 2050-2060, mainly during the dismantling of nuclear facilities currently in operation.

Andra submitted its environment authorisation application file for increasing the authorised storage capacity of Cires to the Aube department in April 2023. This file included several documents explaining the purpose of the project as well as the work and arrangements necessary for its implementation.

The environmental authorisation procedure comprised three phases. During the first phase, the project was reviewed by the state services, including the Environmental Authority. In the second phase, the public and local authorities were consulted.

In the third phase, the department has now given its approval based on the report and "reasoned conclusions" of the investigating commissioner.

With the authorisation, Cires will be able to accommodate a total of 950,000 cubic metres of VLLW, instead of the 650,000 cubic metres initially authorised, without increasing the disposal surface area.

This has been made possible by the various improvements to the disposal cells since the centre was commissioned in 2003. The disposal cells for VLLW were 80 metres long and could contain 10,000 cubic metres of waste. From 2007, cells 176 metres long were built, increasing the capacity of each cell to 25,000 cubic metres. In 2010, steepening of the slopes and deepening the cells made it possible to reach a disposal capacity of 27,000 cubic metres of VLLW per cell. In 2016, a new optimisation was implemented, which involved raising the height of the above-ground part of the repository. This increased the storage capacity of each cell to about 30,000 cubic metres.

Whilst tranche 1 at Cires has been filled with waste and capped, tranche 2 is currently in operation. Work on tranche 3 is set to begin in April next year, with the tranche becoming available for waste disposal starting in 2028.