Aspects of governance in the practical implementation of the concept of reversibility for deep geological disposal
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- Category: Rapports
- Published: Tuesday, 07 September 2010 14:02
REAUD C., SCHIEBER C., SCHNEIDER T., GADBOIS S., HERIARD DUBREUIL G.
The European project COWAM in Practice (CIP) was aimed to lead for three years (2007-2009) a process of monitoring, analyzing and evaluating the governance linked with radioactive waste management. This project, in cooperation with a research group and stakeholders, was conducted in parallel in 5 European countries.
The European project COWAM in Practice (CIP) was aimed to lead for three years (2007-2009) a process of monitoring, analyzing and evaluating the governance linked with radioactive waste management. This project, in cooperation with a research group and stakeholders, was conducted in parallel in 5 European countries (Spain, France, United Kingdom, Romania, Slovenia).
In France, the issue of reversibility for a deep geological disposal was introduced in the Act of December 30, 1991 on the possible options to manage radioactive waste. The Act of June 28, 2006 relative to sustainable management of materials and radioactive waste confirmed the option, by calling for a reversible waste disposal facility in a deep geological formation to be designed. The main issue is no longer to justify the adoption of reversibility, but to investigate the practical procedures for its implementation.
The French stakeholder Group[[The French Group for CIP was formed in 2007 and is chaired by the French National Association of Local Liaison Committees (ANCLI). It is made up of a group of local stakeholders (Local Liaison Committees, associations) and representatives of the Directorate-General for Energy and Climate (DGEC) at the French Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Town and Country Planning, the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), the French National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (ANDRA) and EDF.]] involved in the European project COWAM In Practice (CIP) had identified several subjects for investigation:
- The different aspects associated with the practical implementation of reversible disposal: technical aspects, and aspects relative to monitoring, safety and expertise, in terms of legal, financial, administrative and political, etc. responsibility related to the notion of reversibility.
- The stakes of governance related to the processes of assessment and decisionmaking
- The roles of local stakeholders in these processes.
The analysis conducted by CEPN in cooperation with the French stakeholder group, facilitated by Mutadis, showed that the practical implementation of reversibility aims to maintain a capacity of choice between three options: to continue to maintain the reversibility, to retrieve packages or to initiate the closure of all or part the disposal facility. Maintaining this choice in the long term implies setting up specific institutional, financial and decision-making systems,etc,. that need to be jointly developed in advance by all the actors concerned, be this at local, national and even international level.
Thus, this study revealed perspectives for further study in various areas that could be developed by the different actors (institutions, associations, local actors,…). In particular, further investigations could be carried out in the following areas:
- The political dimension and governance related to the practical implementation of the reversibility ;
- The technical aspects of monitoring the installation and its environment ;
- The financial aspects of the implementation of the reversibility concept.
CEPN-R-308, January 2010