The heads of Russian and French municipalities of the territories where final disposal facilities of radioactive waste (RW) are located signed a cooperation agreement on the sidelines of the International Forum ATOMEXPO 2019.
The document was signed by the head of the Association of closed administrative-territorial units Alexey Golubev and President of municipalities community of Vendeuvre-Soulaines of Aube department (France) Philippe Dallemagne.
Information exchange and creation of institutes and methods of societal participation in the supervision aimed at establishing trust and mutually beneficial relations between residents of the territories and operators of RW disposal are the main issues of cooperation between the heads of Russian and French municipalities. This agreement implies the creation Russian-French mayors’ council.
The heads of municipalities of both countries recognize that they face similar issues when communicating with public during final disposal site-selection process.
National operator for radioactive waste management (NO RWM) and the French national agency for radioactive waste management agreed on promoting cooperation of the heads of Russian and French municipalities which was noted in the Protocol of Ninth Session of the Working group on cooperation in field of peaceful use of nuclear energy in the frames of the Franco-Russian Economic, Financial, Industrial and Trade Council (CEFIC).
Note:
Active final disposal facilities CSA and CIRES with capacity of 1 000 000 cubic meters and 650 000 cubic meters accordingly are located on the territory of Vendeuvre-Soulaines. Russia has the repository for RW of 3 and 4 classes in Novouralsk Sverdlovsk region. The second facility is being built at the moment (total capacity 55 cubic meters). Similar disposal facilities will have been built in Ozersk Chelyabinsk region (capacity – 225 000 cubic meters) and in Seversk Tomsk region (capacity – 140 000 cubic meters) by 2022. Moreover, the underground research laboratory is being created in Nizhnekansky rock massif near Zheleznogorsk of Krasnoyarsk kray in order to determine the possibility of disposing RW of 1 and 2 classes in host rock. The special working group in the Association of clossed administrative-territorial units is created to ensure efficient cooperation with the heads of the French municipalities.