Orano - Annual Activity Report 2024 192 4 SUSTAINABILITY STATEMENT Environmental information Since 2020, as part of the implementation of best practices regarding waste zoning at Orano facilities, instructions have been posted at the entrances to restricted areas to raise awareness among operators about the management of packaging, tools and equipment. These instructions only cover the entry into the restricted area of equipment strictly necessary for work and operations. This best practice therefore makes it possible to reduce the quantity of nuclear waste produced, in particular by managing equipment packaging as conventional recyclable waste. Each step of waste management is characterized by actions to be carried out in compliance with these golden rules. All of these rules make it possible to ensure safe and responsible waste management within the group and to develop consistent and efficient practices at all Orano sites. The recovery of waste, whether radioactive or conventional, is one of the golden rules and one of Orano’s objectives to improve its waste management performance. Waste recovery is an alternative to storage, and Orano is therefore involved in research into new waste treatment processes and in sharing experience to improve and optimize waste management. Contribute to waste transparency and the national radioactive materials and waste management plan (PNGMDR) Orano contributes to various publications, in particular to the national inventory of radioactive waste managed by Andra. Orano la Hague also presents a progress report on the various waste recovery and packaging projects underway at the la Hague site for public disclosure, in accordance with French decision No. 2014-DC-0472 of the French nuclear safety authority of December 9, 2014. This report is also sent to the Local Information Commission. The national radioactive materials and waste management plan (PNGMDR) was established by the Act of June 28, 2006. It is the French State’s strategic management tool for the management of radioactive materials and waste. Its objectives (defined by Article L. 542-1-2 of the French Environmental Code) are based on two major areas. The plan primarily aims to identify knowledge and work on the management of radioactive materials and waste. With this in mind, the PNGMDR takes stock of both existing management channels for the management of radioactive materials and waste and knowledge of the various radioactive substances. It also identifies foreseeable needs for warehousing or storage facilities. The central objective of the PNGMDR is also to plan for radioactive materials and waste management. Thus, the PNGMDR organizes research intended to coordinate the action of the various players in the management of radioactive materials and waste. It also sets the objectives to be achieved, the main deadlines and the timetables for meeting them. The structure of the 5th edition of the PNGMDR follows the strategic areas of the work to be carried out over the period it covers. It strengthens the progress of previous PNGMDRs on materials and waste, such as: ● radioactive materials and the challenge of their recovery; ● used fuel storage and new capacity requirements; ● solutions for managing very low-level waste (VLLW) for future volumes; ● stabilization of the overall management strategy for long-lived low-level waste (LLW-LL); ● the warehousing, disposal, and storage of high- and mediumlevel long-lived waste (HL-LLW and ML-LLW) in deep geological repositories; and ● continued implementation of management channels adapted to specific categories of waste. In parallel with these in-depth studies, the 5th edition of the PNGMDR includes new challenges such as the strengthening of civil society’s involvement in the governance of radioactive materials and waste management, and the coordination of energy policy with the management of radioactive materials and waste or the consideration of environmental, health, economic, ethical and regional issues. Its content and requirements are numerous and overlapping. They call for the implementation of a significant number of actions for manufacturers, including Orano. In practice, Orano remains a major player in this plan, both for its contributions to governance and monitoring, and for its involvement to achieve the many prescribed deliverables. In 2024, Orano contributed to the completion of more than 12 deliverables or reports thanks to a specific internal organization for this purpose. Recovering radioactive substances In line with the regulatory changes brought about by French Decrees No. 2022-174 and No. 2022-175 of February 14, 2022 allowing the submission of a waiver application with a view to obtaining, on a case-by-case basis, authorization for the loss of radioactive status for low-level metallic substances after their recovery, Orano is currently involved in two projects for the recovery of metallic waste from nuclear operations which are at different stages of progress: the steel recovery project and the lead recovery project. These projects are part of a circular economy approach and will reduce the volume of potential metal waste to be stored in order to preserve the storage capacities of existing facilities. In addition, considering that this regulatory change could be extended to other categories of waste, Orano has initiated a project to recover liquid waste. One of the projects consists of recovering radioactive nitrated effluents from Malvési into decarbonized fertilizer precursors. This is an alternative to lagooning in the Malvési basins and to the thermal process planned to solidify liquids in order to send them to storage (TDN project). In addition to the recovery of liquids, this solution has the advantage of consuming less water, emitting less carbon and generating less waste than the thermal process. The project is currently in the R&D stage and, to be carried out, a regulatory change is necessary by end-2025. Targets related to radioactive waste Orano’s objective is to recover the group’s waste as much as possible, to the extent of its technical and economic capabilities. This involves projects to open radioactive waste recovery channels subject to an adapted regulatory framework (for some by 2025). Orano has set itself the objective of opening three waste recovery channels by 2025. This objective meets the expectations of stakeholders and is voluntary.
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