Overview of the CEA French Research Program on Nuclear Waste
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Overview of the CEA French Research Program on Nuclear Waste Etienne Y. Vernaz1 and Christophe Poinssot2 1 CEA, Marcoule, Department of Waste Treatment and Conditioning, 2 CEA, Saclay, Department of Physics & Chemistry, Service for the Studies of the Radionuclides Behaviour, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France ABSTRACT This presentation gives an overview of the French major research program on nuclear waste and presents some perspectives in the context of the 2006 Act, while focusing on the main CEA contributions. Development of new conditioning processes combined with in-depth studies of the waste-packages long term behaviour studies allows enhancing the expected performance of waste-packages. Geological disposal performances have been demonstrated based in particular on the relevant understanding of the radionuclides chemistry and migration in complex environment, including tracing field-experiments in ANDRA underground research lab. French research and plans for waste from future reactors will be discussed. It is still a very prospective area as fuel materials that will be used in these reactors is not decided. The capacity to recycle most of the fuel component will be a major point in the choice of an integrated concept including reactor and fuel cycle. INTRODUCTION The French context With an installed capacity of 62 MWe in 58 PWR, France roughly produced more than 80% of its electricity, i.e. 450 TWh, by nuclear fission. Nuclear energy is therefore a major component of the French energetic “mix”. France also made the strategic choice to reprocess spent nuclear UOX fuels in order to recover all recyclable matters: recovered plutonium is currently entirely recycled in the current reactor as MOX fuel whereas 30% of recovered uranium is recycled in UOX fuel. This choice also allows to minimize the volume of produced waste and to dispose off only the “ultimate” waste conditioned in suitable matrices. Since spring 1957 when first glasses of containment were elaborated in Saclay, the CEA is supporting a long-term research effort on nuclear waste management. This policy of research aimed to permanently improve the industrial practice of recycling / treatment chosen by France since its first nuclear program. From “Bataille Act” to the “June 28, 2006 Act” In 1990, controversies on the issue of radioactive waste led the French government to decide a moratorium on the selection of a relevant geological disposal site and to draw up a Bill to set the framework for research work on the long term management of long-lived high-level radioactive waste. Passed on 30 December 1991, the so call “Bataille Act” (from the name of the
author of the parliamentary report), gives 15 years to the French research to study three complimentary research lines: - Reduce long-term toxicity by partitioning and transmutation of long-lived radionuclide present in the waste; - Investigate the possibilities of reversible or irreversible deep geological disposal, in particular through the construction of an underground research laboratory - Investi
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