A cooperation agreement has been signed between France’s National Agency for the management of radioactive waste (Andra – l’Agence nationale pour la gestion des déchets radioactifs) between Andra Germany’s Federal Agency for Final Storage (BGE).
Through this agreement, Andra and BGE are strengthening their cooperation in the field of radioactive waste management. The agreement reflects a shared commitment to continuing collaborative work and provides a framework for cooperation over the next five years. A cooperation agreement had been signed in 2018, following the creation of BGE in 2017, for a period of five years.
The renewed agreement covers the main areas of expertise of both organisations, including exchanges on their respective deep geological repository projects through the sharing of technical information, operational experience and site visits.
Alongside the signing of the cooperation agreement, Andra representatives visited Germany’s Asse II mine, a former salt mine used as a disposal facility for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste between 1967 and 1978 located 700 metres underground. The site has experienced mine instability for several decades as a result of brine infiltration. In 2013, the German Parliament passed a law requiring the retrieval of the waste, a technically, industrially and operationally complex undertaking. Andra was able to observe the monitoring systems implemented there.
For the disposal of low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste, the German government selected the Konrad site in 2019, a former iron mine located in Lower Saxony. Situated 850 metres underground, the facility will have a total disposal capacity of 303,000 cubic metres and is expected to become operational in 2030.
As part of Germany’s nuclear phase-out policy initiated in 2011, the country is also working on the development of a deep geological repository for the most radioactive waste. BGE is interested in benefiting from Andra’s experience with the Cigéo project in France.
BGE is particularly interested in Cigéo’s step-by-step development approach, the long-term framework developed in France since 1991, and Andra’s knowledge of disposal in clay formations, built through the scientific and industrial work carried out at the Agency’s Underground Research Laboratory. BGE is also interested in Andra’s communication strategy and dialogue with stakeholders regarding the Cigéo project.
Andra expressed interest in BGE’s stakeholder information and dialogue strategy and is closely following Germany’s site selection process for the deep geological repository. The entire German territory was initially considered before being narrowed down to half, and then to approximately one quarter, of the country’s territory. Salt, granite and clay geological formations remain under consideration.
