French Parliament Passes Law On Procedures For Cigéo Repository

21 Jul (NucNet): The French Parliament has passed a law that details some of the procedures for the Cigéo deep geologic repository project, Andra, the French agency managing the project said. The law, adopted on 11 July 2016 by the National Assembly, says the facility must be “reversible” and defines reversibility as “the capacity, for the coming generations, either to pursue the construction and then the operations of the successive phases of a disposal, or to reassess choices made previously, and to develop management solutions”. Andra said this definition allows a range of technical and governance choices for the future generations which will have to build and operate the facility for over 100 years. The law also confirms the changes in the project proposed by Andra following a 2013 public debate, such as the implementation of an industrial pilot phase allowing for full-scale trials before starting disposal operations. It stabilises the long-term governance of the project by requiring a new parliamentary decision after the pilot phase, a stakeholder consultation every five years, and a review on the principles of reversibility. If approved, Cigéo will be built in the Meuse/Haute-Marne area in northeastern France. Andra has already carried out extensive geological and scientific studies at the Bure underground laboratory, in Meuse. Andra said the law is important because it can now take into account parliamentary requirements for preparing the Cigéo licence application, which will be submitted in 2018, and for beginning the consultation process.