The Manche disposal facility (CSM) was the first radioactive waste repository ever operated and closed in France. The CSM has stayed in operation for 25 years; it received a total 527,225 m3 of low- and intermediate-level waste, mainly containing short-lived radionuclides. The final cap covering the top of the disposal vaults was installed between 1991 and 1997. The CSM was closed in 1994, and the challenge now is to determine its final form, and especially concerning the final cover.
The CSM is the first radioactive waste disposal facility in the world to enter the post-closure monitoring stage. The facility no longer receives waste packages, but various improvements and adaptations are still being regularly made with a view to the facility’s final closure within the next fifty years. All information (monitoring data, adaptations, …) are currently being scrutinised and examined as a part of the ten-yearly safety review and the report on “dismantling, closure and monitoring”, which Andra has to submit every 10 years.
Visits are organized for the general public and technical visits can be organized on demand for professionals, academics or students.
For more information, please consult the official website.
