Lithuania Adopts Andra's Radioactive Waste Disposal Concept
Andra, France's national radioactive waste management agency, is a public industrial and commercial establishment. Independent from radioactive-waste producers and placed under the supervision of the Ministries for Energy, the Environment and Research, Andra is in charge of ensuring the sustainable management of all French radioactive waste.
The agency's mission with Lithuania will be to accompany the new customer in the design of a disposal facility for low- and intermediate-level (LIL) radioactive waste on the model of the CSFMA, a similar French facility located at Soulaines-Dhuys, Aube district. Andra will provide its expertise, notably for the design and safety assessment of the future facility.
Andra is gradually positioning itself on the foreign consulting and client-support market for the disposal of radioactive waste.
Drawing on 40 years of lessons learned, Andra has demonstrated its know-how and experience in the management of French waste-disposal facilities: general design, construction supervision, operation (waste-acceptance procedure, waste-stream management), safety studies, as well as operational and post-closure monitoring of facilities and their environment.
Pursuant to the contract with Lithuania, Andra will be responsible for providing its expertise in order to orient the choices and decisions to be made at every stage of the project: selection of the final site, disposal concept, waste package characterization, implementation of control measures, long-term safety studies.
The future facility will accommodate the LIL waste resulting from the dismantling of Lithuania's Ignalina nuclear-power plant.