France Meeting

Location

The BRC was in France February 19-22, 2011. The first meeting there was with a Paris-based NGO and vocal critic of the French choice to reprocess used nuclear fuel, The Independent Analysis on Energy and Nuclear Policy.  The BRC then travelled to the town of Cherbourg where they met with another small group of NGO’s (André Guillemette and Didier Anger), and then attended a community meeting of local stakeholders.  In this location the Commission also toured the La Hague reprocessing site and met with various representatives from the French energy company-Areva.  The BRC then went to the town of Bure where they toured the underground laboratory which studies geological formations in order to evaluate its capacity for disposal of high level radioactive waste. The BRC was interested to learn from the French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (ANDRA) and local stakeholders, what kind of processes led to the site being acceptable to the regional community. Although this will not be the permanent site for disposal, the final site will be located in that same general region known as the Meuse/Haute-Marne.

Presentations: 

Overview of AREVA’s Nuclear Fuel Recycling Activities - Presentation to The Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future f

Introductory presentation to the Blue Ribbon Commission visit at the Bure site - Dr Gérald Ouzounian ANDRA Director of the Inter

Plutonium: Reflexionen über Entsorgungsstrategien eines Rohstoffs mit negativem Marktwert - Mycle Schneider, lnternational Consu

CIGEO project (Industrial Geological Repository Project) - T. Labalette, J. M. Hoorelbeke Programmes Direction

Research On Deep Geological Disposal In France: Results and perspectives - P. Landais, Research and Development Division, ANDRA