radioactive waste container : Andra, National Radioactive Waste Management Agency

Alongside this main task, Andra pursues industrial, research, and information activities defined in the 2001-2004 four-year contract signed with its three supervisory ministries, andra is spread over five sites. The agency headquarters in Châtenay-Malabry Hauts-de-Seine, ; the Manche waste disposal facility in Beaumont-Hague Manche, which received waste packages between 1969 and 1994 and is now in the surveillance phase, ; the Aube waste disposal facility in Soulaines Aube, which receives short-lived, low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste, the VLLW disposal facility in Morvilliers Aube, which receives very-low-level radioactive waste, the Meuse/Haute-Marne underground research laboratory in Bure Meuse, set up to study the feasibility of a deep geological waste repository in clay for high-level and long-lived intermediate-level radioactive waste, andra’s activities integrate environmental concerns, stringent safety requirements and the need for exemplary industrial facilities, and reflect its spirit of scientific and technical initiative. Proof of this can be seen in its ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification, granted in 2001 and since confirmed, andra designs and implements disposal solutions suited to each category of radioactive waste.

This encompasses the collection, conditioning, disposal and monitoring of waste from nuclear power plants, hospitals, industrial plants and research laboratories, etc, aerial view of the Centre de l’Aube Disposal Facility.
The agency manages, operates and monitors radioactive waste disposal centres, it designs and builds new centres for waste that cannot be handled by existing facilities, it defines specifications for the conditioning, acceptance and disposal of radioactive waste, in compliance with applicable safety rules. The french National Radiactive Waste Management Agency is responsible for the long-term management of all radioactive watse in France and for the conduct of investigations on its disposal in deep geological formation. The use of radioactivity generates radioactive waste, classified according to two criteria, the intensity of radioactivity, which determines the levels of protection required to manage the waste effectively, the ''''lifetime'''' of most of the radioelements present, defining how long the waste will remain potentially harmful.

radioactivity type

Each type of waste calls for specific management, the aim of long-term radioactive waste management is to protect human health and the environment against any emission or dissemination of radioactive materials. Waste repository concepts adapted to each type of waste must isolate radioactive materials from the environment until their radioactivity has decayed to an acceptable level, this implies perfectly controlled management of radioactive waste, from production through conditioning to final disposal. radioactive waste container The Manche waste disposal facility, after 25 years of service and with 527 214 m3 of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste, the Manche waste disposal facility has allowed Andra to define a waste repository concept that is recognised throughout the world. Starting out as a simple in-trench disposal site, the Manche facility saw rapid development, today, it is covered by a leaktight cover designed chiefly to prevent water from flowing on the waste packages.