By akademiotoelektronik, 16/06/2022

The Energeek Radioactive Waste: Deep geological storage acclaimed by the experts written by: The next time writing:

It is an advance for research on high activity nuclear waste management for long life.After three years of work, the group of experts responsible for assessing the socio-economic impact of the Cigeo project made its conclusions at the end of March and responds to the worries about the deep storage of radioactive waste.Concerning results for Andra, whose solution seems, after more than twenty years of debate and reflection, to gain the assent of the scientific community.

End of the debate for the scientific community?

What to do with high activity and medium -based long -life waste from long -standing - others - from the electrical industry?If they represent only a tiny minority of radioactive waste-around 3.1 %-, high and medium long activity for long life cannot be kept on the surface without permanent surveillance.The rest of the waste is, largely, overall without health risk for humans and its environment.

If the battle law of December 30, 1991 had set out to deepen several scenarios, including separation / transmutation, long -term storage on surface and deep geological layer storage, scientific data and security assessments lead the expertsTo favor deep geological storage, considered safer for future generations.

"The idea is that the radioelements will eventually come out.But we know how long.This time is very long and is enough to guarantee the safety of radioelements for the biological environment of which it must be absolutely isolated "explained Christian Simon, academic, in our pages on Monday March 2, 2020.

Different options and several scenarios studied

The different options studied were in the prism of two scenarios.In the first, our societies experience relative stability and prosperity in the future, allowing social peace and public institutions.A scenario which, according to the probabilities drawn up by the experts, has a 90 % chance of happening.In the second, systemic crises strike our societies, which are more or more sink in a social, economic and political collapse.A disaster scenario, however, not very possible, according to scientists.

Alternative options for the immediate and complete launch of the project were scrutinized.The first of them is the launch of the Cigeo pilot industrial phase, to store only medium -lived long -life waste, while maintaining research for high activity waste.The second promotes the launch of the Cigeo pilot industrial phase, without storing waste in order to favor the search for alternative solutions.The third, more radical, is the postponement of CIGEO's investments in favor of research.But, according to experts, the immediate launch of the CIGEO project is preferable to alternative solutions, in particular for its ability to protect future generations from any difficulties they can face.

Internationally, deep geological layer storage is an option favored by the various states using atom.Other advanced solutions, such as storage, separation / transmutation or drilling storage, still suffer from an operational maturity deficit or a lack of consideration of future generations.Likewise, according to experts, deep geological layer storage is the only one to respect the principle of reversibility, required by parliamentarians.

The socio-economic assessment of the project has also been the subject of particular attention to the General Secretariat for Investment which, in the form of a counter-expertise, has made a positive opinion on this thorny file, butfor which a beginning of scientific unanimity seems to be emerging.