Radioactive waste : Stakes and debates Laurence CHABANNE-POUZYNIN General Counsel Public, Nuclear and Evironmental Law Department INLA Buenos Aires, October 2014

Evolution of the statutory definition of radioactive waste at International and European level (1/2) Euratom Treaty on 25 March 1957: no definition of radioactive waste Council Directive 92/3/Euratom of 3 February 1992  Radioactive waste: Any material which contains or is contaminated by radio-nuclides and for which no use is foreseen Joint Convention of 5 September 1997  Radioactive waste: Radioactive material in gaseous, liquid or solid form which no further use is foreseen by the Contracting Party […]  Spent fuel: Nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in and permanently removed from a reactor core Nuclear Inter Jura – L. CHABANNE-POUZYNIN – Buenos Aires – 20/23 October

Evolution of the statutory definition of radioactive waste at International and European level (2/2) Council Directive 2006/117/Euratom of 20 November 2006  Radioactive waste: Radioactive material in gaseous, liquid or solid form for wich no further use is foreseen […]  Spent fuel: […] May either be considered as usable resource that can be reprocessed or be destined for final disposal with no further use foreseen and treated as radioactive waste Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom of 19 July 2011  Radioactive waste: Radioactive material in gaseous, liquid or solid form for which no further use is foreseen or considered by the Member State […]  Spent fuel: […] May either be considered as a usable resource that can be reprocessed or be destined for disposal if regarded as radioactive waste Nuclear Inter Jura – L. CHABANNE-POUZYNIN – Buenos Aires – 20/23 October

Evolution of the statutory definition of radioactive waste at French level (1/3) Before 2006: Radioactive waste was defined by the classical definition of waste  Any residue of a process of production, transformation or use, any substance, material, product or more generally any movable goods abandoned or destined to be abandoned by its holders (The Act of 15 July 1975) The Act of 30 December 1991  Especially known for having set up the ban of storage in France of foreign radioactive waste  The National Agency of Radioactive Waste (ANDRA) was created Nuclear Inter Jura – L. CHABANNE-POUZYNIN – Buenos Aires – 20/23 October

Evolution of the statutory definition of radioactive waste at French level (2/3) The Programme Act of 28 June 2006  Definitions very close to definitions of the Council Directive 96/29/Euratom (radioactive substance) and the Joint Protocole (radioactive material, radioactive waste, storage or disposal)  Radioactive waste: Radioactive substance for which no subsequent use is planned or envisaged  Nuclear fuel is regarded as a spent fuel when, after irradiation in a reactor core, and is definitively removed from it  The French ban of keeping foreign radioactive waste in French repository is rewritten and clarified  The introduction of radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel for reprocessing purpose has to be done in the framework of an intergovernmental agreement Nuclear Inter Jura – L. CHABANNE-POUZYNIN – Buenos Aires – 20/23 October

Evolution of the statutory definition of radioactive waste at French level (3/3) The national plan for the Management of radioactive materials and waste  Every 3 years  Every person who holds radioactive materials has to justify regularly the use they will give to this material  If the future use is not justified, the Administration can qualify a material as a waste Nuclear Inter Jura – L. CHABANNE-POUZYNIN – Buenos Aires – 20/23 October

Radioactive waste classification Nuclear waste classification of IAEA based on:  In the 1970’s: only one technical criterion of the radioactivity level  3 categories: high level waste (HLW), intermediate level waste (ILW) and low level waste (LLW)  In the 1990’s: the decay period added to the radioactivity level  3 new categories: exempt waste (EW), very low level waste (VLLW) and very short lived waste (VSLW) French classification waste based on 2 criteria:  The radioactivity level: VLL, LL, IL and HL  The radioactive half-life  6 categories of radioactive waste in the National inventory of radioactive materials and waste The radioactive waste released  Recommandations of IAEA and the European commission for the released  Characteristic of French Nuclear Safety Authority position: No radioactive waste released Nuclear Inter Jura – L. CHABANNE-POUZYNIN – Buenos Aires – 20/23 October

Evolution of the measures of long term management of radioactive waste The safety principle respect  Joint Convention of 1997  Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom of 19 July 2011  A Community framework for ensuring responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste to avoid imposing undue burdens on future generations  The storage of radioactive waste, including long-term storage, is an interim solution, but not an alternative to disposal  French Acts of 1991 and 2006 in line with this approach The guidance to the deep geological repository  : Sea dumping  From 1975: Research started by IAEA  1989: NEA Report  French Acts of 1991 and 2006 Nuclear Inter Jura – L. CHABANNE-POUZYNIN – Buenos Aires – 20/23 October

Public acceptance of waste management decisions Public participation in decision-making  Aarhus Convention of 25 June 1998  Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom of 19 July 2011  Public debate introduced by the French law of the 2 February 1995 relating to the strengthening of environment protection and its implementing decree The result of the public debate of French Cigéo Project  Deep geological repository project for high level waste  Object of the research for 25 years  Public debate from 15 May to 31 July 2013 and from 1st September to 15 December 2013  Public debate sessions organised on internet  Citizen conference A special Act about reversibility of CIGEO will be debated in Parliament in 2015 Nuclear Inter Jura – L. CHABANNE-POUZYNIN – Buenos Aires – 20/23 October