Nuclear Waste Management in France: Industrial Developments and Public Involvement in The Last 10 years

One of the prerequisites to the economic success of a program of this scale was the development of an indigenous nuclear fuel cycle industry. Major investments were made, both in fuel cycle research and development by the CIA, particularly in uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing, and in the construction of large production facilities for each stage of the fuel cycle, form uranium mining and milling through spent fuel management. In the back-end of the fuel cycle, Cogema, the nuclear fuel cycle French company, has made and continues to make massive investments in the La Hague spent fuel reprocessing complex. The 800 ton per year UPI reprocessing plant at La Hague has been in operation since 1990. This plant, which is dedicated to foreign fuels for the first ten years of operations, is capable of processing fuel from 35 to 40 large PWRs every year. UPI's performance has exceeded production targets in every area, including product quality, personnel exposure and waste generation. The UPI-400 reprocessing plant at La Hague is being upgraded to double its capacity. Cogema is also building a large mixed oxide (Max) fuel fabrication facility at Marcoule scheduled to start up in the mid-1990's. The development of a HLA repository was at the heart of a major public debate in France, which will likely continue in 1992 through parliamentary-level discussions of various nuclear subjects, including the introduction of nuclear policy legislation. What conclusions can be drawn from this experience? Why was Andrea's success in siting the Centre de labia Law disposal facility followed by such conflict in siting the HLA repository? Three factors contributed to this situation