Mr. Patrick Landais

In 2001, he was appointed as scientific Director of ANDRA, the French national agency for radioactive waste management. For his studies on the geological disposal, he received a Grand Prix of the French Academy of Sciences. In 2005, he became member of the management board of the CNRS. He went back to ANDRA in 2006 before becoming Scientific Director of the French geological survey in 2013. In 2016, he returned to ANDRA as Chief Technology Officer. Since February 2019 he is High Commissioner for atomic energy.
Abstract:France produces about 75% of its electricity from nuclear power. The generated radioactive waste must be secured to protect man and his environment. Andra is in charge of proposing and implementing solutions commensurate with the risk represented by each type of waste. Facilities have already been operated for nearly fifty years for low and intermediate-level short-lived waste and more than a decade for waste coming from dismantling. Finally, the high-level vitrified waste and the intermediate-level long-lived residues will be disposed of in a geological formation, a clay formation in eastern France. For the latter, the Cigéo project is being prepared. Its implementation has been the subject of decisions by the government since 2006, after a first Public Debate on the management policy and strategy. A second Public Debate was organized in 2013 in order to present the Cigéo project. Subsequently a new law was passed in 2016.

Building and operation of Cigéo must be able to rely on the feedback generated at each step, and to benefit from any new development. This progressive approach introduces the concept of reversibility, leaving flexibility for all generations to follow or to reconsider the options we have taken. On this basis, Andra will submit the Cigéo licensing application in 2020.