How can environmental protection imperatives and technical requirements be reconciled in radioactive waste disposal? In France, surface disposal illustrates how low-level short-lived radioactive waste disposal can merge scientific, regulatory and political concerns, based on the natural decay property of radioactive material. Andra's near-surface disposal facilities for short-lived waste are operated for one generation and monitored for ten generations, with the radioactivity of the waste declining to naturally-occurring levels through the process of radioactive decay by the end of that time. The waste to be disposed of in such facilities contains nuclides with half-life below 30 years and is said to be time-degradable at human scale The paper briefly describes the criteria used in the French regulation to determine what waste can be accepted for near-surface disposal and presents the facilities that are under final closure process and under operation.
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