French National Plan for the management of Radioactive Materials and Waste 2016-2018. Report + Summary

Radioactive materials and waste must be managed sustainably, to protect individual health, security and the environment. The National Plan for Radioactive Materials and Waste Management (PNGMDR) is a key tool in ensuring the long-term implementation of these principles, within the framework set out in the Environment Code and in the Program Act of 28 June 2006 concerning the sustainable management of radioactive materials and waste. This three-year plan aims to provide a regular picture of the management policy for radioactive substances nationwide, to assess needs that are coming out and determine objectives to be met in the future, more specifically in terms of studies and research. The interest of this approach was confirmed at European level by the directive establishing a community framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, adopted on 19 July 2011, which generalised the adoption of such approach. This new PNGMDR was drafted on the basis of works and exchanges within a pluralistic working group, comprising environmental protection associations and regulatory authorities and regulatory assessment bodies, alongside radioactive waste producers and managers. It was the subject of an environmental assessment for the first time, followed by a public consultation, thus enabling obtained comprehensive understanding of the stakes and challenges associated with the management of radioactive materials and waste. Furthermore, this new PNGMDR takes account of the guidelines of the Energy Transition for Green Growth Act. The 2016-2018 PNGMDR also proposes possible solutions for improving the management of all radioactive materials and waste. These proposals continue the work carried out since the first version of the plan, covering the period 2007-2009, and more specifically request to undertake studies and to implement management measures for some of these substances. Although much progress has been made, we cannot overstate the extent to which we consider the implementation of the recommendations presented in this 2016-2018 edition to be essential. New avenues for work are today open, in particular concerning the long-term harmfulness of radioactive waste from a more global environmental perspective, the further use prospects of certain radioactive materials, or the storage strategies adopted by the licensees pending the availability of final management solutions. The answers to the questions raised will determine our capacity to avoid imposing the burden of managing this waste on future generations. This report presents the main components of the 2016-2018 PNGMDR. The document is organised into four parts. The first part recalls the principles and objectives of radioactive materials and waste management. The management modes and further use prospects for radioactive materials are then presented, as are the results and the development prospects of the existing management solutions. Finally, the last part presents the needs and prospects for the management solutions to be put into place. Five appendixes are attached to the document: Appendix 1: Reminder of the main orientations of the successive PNGMDRs since 2007 and list of studies requested by the 2016-2018 PNGMDR; Appendix 2: Societal aspects, concepts and plans for the post-closure period of radioactive waste repositories, preservation of memory; Appendix 3: Summary of accomplishments and research carried out in other countries; Appendix 4: Research for the period 2016-2018; Appendix 5: Inter-governmental agreements concluded by France concerning the management of spent fuel or radioactive waste (agreements in force as at 31 December 2015, given in chronological order).