Mélanie Faure 4:10 p.m., August 30, 2021

What will become of French nuclear waste?

Until when can we store them?

And or ?

Philippe Knoche, the boss of Orano, responsible, among other things, for monitoring and recycling radioactive waste, answered all these questions on Monday, at the microphone of Dimitri Pavlenko.

DECRYPTION

On the Cotentin peninsula, the La Hague treatment plant houses 1,213 tonnes of spent fuel.

The site, managed by Orano, processes fuels from nuclear reactors around the world.

At a time of a 50% reduction plan for the share of nuclear power in the production of electrical energy, the question of managing the storage of nuclear waste arises.

Guest of the morning of Europe 1 this Monday, Philippe Knoche explains that 96% of materials are recyclable and currently allow to generate 10% of nuclear electricity produced from recycled materials, with a target of 20% in the long term.   

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An objective coupled with the desire to reduce the duration of radioactivity in nuclear waste.

"We know scientifically how to destroy long-lived nuclear waste, bring it back around two or three centuries," explains the CEO of Orano.

"The company can easily look at 300 years easily."

The key ?

Industrialization.

"The challenge facing the French industry and international partners, in the United States and elsewhere, is to ensure that these scientific solutions are industrial", explains Philippe Knoche.

"It's about breaking down long-lived atoms into smaller, shorter-lived atoms."

Deep geological storage

To store nuclear waste, several countries have adopted a deep geological disposal method.

The 2006 law on the management of nuclear waste introduced the option of reversible disposal in a deep geological layer of clay for high-level and long-lived waste.

"It is not a landfill but a storage which is reversible", pleads Philippe Knoch.

"For a century, we can go and collect this waste and make sure it comes back to natural radioactivity. What is important for us is to leave the choice of surface and geology to society."

Are the ponds close to saturation?

The storage of fuels raises many questions and concerns.

In a report published in January 2019 by Greenpeace, the NGO sounded the alarm about the risk of saturation of the basins of the La Hague treatment plant.

The reprocessing plant has four basins, built between 1976 and 1985, which could reach saturation in 2030.

Philippe Knoche wants to be reassuring on the antenna of Europe 1, evoking the preparation of "new warehouses".

"EDF asked us to build in La Hague directly. The feasibility study shows that it is possible. The work authorization requests are in progress."

However, it will be necessary to be patient: this new basin of 6,500 tonnes would be commissioned in 2034.

Another solution: send the waste back to its countries of origin. This is the case for Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Japan. Orano provides for the return of final waste and recycled materials to our German neighbors, putting an end to a 44-year-old agreement. In 2022, Germany's last nuclear power plants will be removed from the electricity grid and then decommissioned. "This will be done for Germany before 2024. Two years after the shutdown of nuclear power plants in Germany, we will have returned all of the waste, whether in terms of radioactivity or mass," said the CEO. In total, the La Hague plant reprocessed more than 5,300 tonnes of German nuclear waste.