Kit media
On Tuesday, January 10, 2023, Pierre-Marie Abadie, Director General of the National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (Andra) and Thomas Grenon, Director General of the National Metrology and Testing Laboratory (LNE) renewed for 5 years, the research and development partnership agreement initiated since 2011 between the two entities. This renewal thus extends the active collaboration between Andra and LNE on the observation and monitoring of radioactive waste storage facilities and their geological and surface environment.
For more than 10 years, Andra and LNE have been jointly developing instruments and measuring devices (sensors, probes, etc.) adapted to long-term monitoring, particularly for radioactive waste storage centres. These devices, as well as the measurement strategies developed by the two entities, contribute to improving the traceability and reliability of monitoring and observation data for radioactive waste storage.
Among the main works carried out by Andra and LNE as part of this partnership, mention can be made of the development of a fibre-optic control device for rock temperature sensors, tested at a depth of 500 m in the underground laboratory of Andra in Meuse/Haute-Marne. The partners have also optimised the surface water quality monitoring programme set up by Andra in view of the Cigeo project.
The operating life of radioactive waste storage, ranging from a few tens to more than a hundred years for the Cigeo project, and the monitoring phases planned after the closure of these sites (several hundred years), require the development of innovative and more efficient measuring devices. The 2022-2027 R&D partnership agreement between Andra and LNE is structured around historical areas of collaboration: sensor development and environmental monitoring, while focusing on new innovative technologies for processing measured data, for example integrating artificial intelligence algorithms.
The mastery and qualification of the measures will be at the heart of all 5 themes of the partnership:
- Standardization and metrology;
- Sensors, performance and limitations;
- Data processing, AI algorithms;
- Environment;
- Fire
Beyond its recognized scientific expertise in the field of measurement, LNE's collaboration attests to its ability to position innovation and Research and Development at the center of its growth model and to work on a daily basis with the largest national agencies.
Thomas Grenon, Director General of LNE " Once again, we are proud to be able to position ourselves on a project with very high added value. Our collaboration with Andra is a real achievement for our teams, who have demonstrated their ability to work on a complex and strategic project. »
