Читать книгу Management of Radioactive Waste - Jean-Claude Amiard - Страница 17

The details of the French classification are as follows. Radioactive waste is classified according to two criteria: mass activity and physical half-life. The “mass activity” criterion divides waste into four groups: déchets de très faible activité, called TFA or very low-level waste (VLLW), déchets de faible activité, FA or low-level waste (LLW), déchets de moyenne activité, MA or intermediate-level waste (ILW) and déchets de haute activité, high-level waste (HLW). The “life” criterion is divided into three classes to distinguish between déchets à vie courte, short-lived waste (SLW), déchets à vie moyenne, medium-lived waste (MLL) and déchets à vie longue, long-lived waste (LLW). The combination of the two criteria makes it possible to classify the waste into 12 categories (Table 1.1) [PNG 10].

Table 1.1. French classification of radioactive waste and storage sites in operation in France (source: modified from [PNG 10, MTE 18]). For a color version of this table, see www.iste.co.uk/amiard/radioactive.zip

Radioactive waste management simplifies these subdivisions by grouping certain categories to manage them together. In the end, in France, by combining the four levels of activity with the three ranges of radioactive periods, six categories of waste are distinguished, defined by an order of April 4, 2014. In addition, this decree defines the nature of the information that nuclear activity managers and companies are required to establish, maintain and periodically transmit to ANDRA.

At present, only two categories have well-defined channels: VLA-SL at Morvilliers and LA-SL and AA-SL at Soulaines in the Aube region (and previously in the commune of La Hague, at the Centre de stockage de la Manche-CSM, 1969–1994). The other channels are still being studied, as are certain specific wastes such as tritiated waste, mining waste, sealed sources and graphite waste (see Chapter 5).