The French Groupement de Scientiques pour l'Information sur L'Energie
Nucléaire (GSIEN) critized the concepts of regaining valuable material from the waste, the
concept of regaining valuable material from the waste, which is one of the reasons for
"reversibility". Radioactive waste cannot be retrievable for eternity from its underground disposal
facitlity. It could be possible to intervene during the functioning period of the waste facility
(50-70 years), based on the hope that the corridors, the packages, etc., would function according
to plan. If taken into accound, the "eternal" lifetime of this waste, the eventual common loss of
memory of the disposal location, and the lack of knowledge of the geological evolution, GSIEN
concludes that the only disposal option should be surface or subsurface. GSIEN also notes that the
retrievability principle is not more than a concept to get waste disposal accepted. The nuclear
industry itself calls it confidence building.
La Gazette Nucléaire: November 1998- 169-170
Related article: France: Continue support for deep radwaste disposal option
