Opponents remain convinced that they can derail this burial project

A new stage was reached for the Cigéo project, a few months ago already, that of expropriation. More than 300 owners are concerned. The opponents, gathered near Bure from Friday, intend to make this phase last as long as possible with legal appeals.

Opponents of the “Cigéo” project are meeting near Bure in the Meuse from Friday 16 to Sunday 18 August. This is the fourth edition ofIt’s Bure’lesques, This gathering presented as a festival against the project of burying radioactive waste. A project, supported by the State and contested by environmental associations, began years ago. But a new stage was reached on March 18, it is the phase of expropriation. Until now, theNational Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (Andra) has acquired plots amicably, more than 80% of the land needed for the project has already been purchased.

There are still about a hundred hectares to be obtained in surface area. These are not homes, mainly agricultural plots, paths or roads. The only building is an old station, bought by opponents. More than 300 owners, farmers in particular, are concerned. Andra, initially, will continue to buy these lands amicably, but it can now resort to expropriation, since the project was recognized as being of public utility by the Council of State two years ago.

There are also the basements to be acquired, what we call the depths: an area located between 200 and 500 meters deep. This is obviously essential for the Cigéo project since the objective is to store high-level and medium-level long-lived nuclear waste. This represents 3% of the nuclear waste produced in France today: 85,000 cubic meters buried in underground galleries. We are still far from this storage phase. For the moment, underground, there is only an experimental laboratory and nearly two kilometers of galleries to conduct tests and test the feasibility of the project, which has not yet been officially validated. Andra is counting on an authorization decree in 2027 and receipt of the first packages of radioactive waste in 2035-2040.

The opponents remain mobilized, because nothing is decided for the moment. This is the slogan that they will recall this weekend in Saint-Amand-sur-Ornain in the Meuse, a few kilometers from Bure. For these opponents, there is no question of transforming the area into France’s nuclear waste dump, the environmental risks are, they say, too great. They speak of a poisoned chalice for future generations. The opponents intend to make the expropriation phase last as long as possible with legal recourse.