Cigeo Project - Industrial Centre for the reversible deep geological disposal of radioactive waste in the Meuse/Haute-Marne area - 2024

The Cigeo project managed by the French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Andra) aims to protect both people and the environment from the risks inherent in long-lived high-level and intermediate-level waste in the long term. In the 2000's, the French Parliament adopted the principle of deep geological disposal as the safest solution for this type of waste. France is not alone in opting for deep geological disposal: this is the preferred option at European and international level too. The Cigeo project is the result of three laws passed in 1991, 2006 and 2016 and three public debates held in 2005, 2013 and 2019. It is also the fruit of over 30 years of regularly evaluated research, including more than 20 in Andra's underground research laboratory in the Meuse/Haute Marne region. This project meets the ethical imperative of removing the burden of managing this waste from future generations. This document presents: the history of the Cigeo project, the waste requiring long-term handling, why opt for deep geological disposal?, safety at the heart of Cigeo Cigeo and reversibility, Cigeo facilities, Cigeo operations, integrating Cigeo into the local area, building Cigeo with the public