The Cigéo project in Bure, France, has received a technical opinion on its safety conditions from the Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority.
The ambitious project, initiated in 1991, will construct a nuclear waste facility capable of holding roughly 83,000 cubic meters of long-lived radioactive waste. The waste will be buried at 500 meters in sealed galleries beneath a layer of 160-million-year-old clay.
According to Entrevue, the National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management presented the safety conditions of the Cigéo project to the Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority. After 30 months of expert review, the Authority deemed the safety conditions satisfactory.
While this technical opinion marks a significant milestone in the project's completion, it does not constitute final authorization, though some critics of the project feel that it may give some the sense that the project is a done deal.
However, according to one official at the safety authority, the analysis is ever-evolving and will require technical demonstrations until the planned commissioning of the project in 2050. Additionally, technical aspects will require refining throughout the next stages of construction.
Although the opinion found the safety conditions satisfactory for now, experts also identified several areas requiring vigilance. These included concerns about metal container corrosion, fire around bitumen-coated waste that is prone to overheating, and the performance of the seals closing the tunnels.
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While nuclear energy is an important step in the global transition to cleaner, more affordable energy, safely storing nuclear waste remains a concern, making the Cigéo project potentially invaluable.
Building of the underground waste facility will continue to take years and may prove expensive. Still, if the project succeeds, it will make nuclear energy use that much safer. Nuclear energy has the potential to generate large amounts of carbon-free electricity, so its use can help reduce pollution while saving consumers quite a bit on utilities, making nuclear energy well worth it.
However, Cigéo still has quite a way to go, as its target closing date is 2170, and it must still face down critics, numerous approvals, and years of preparatory work.
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