The Commission of Inquiry issues a favorable opinion, without any reserve, on the declaration of public utility of Cigéo
A public inquiry was held between September 15 and October 23, 2021 to review and provide an opinion on the Public Utility Declaration (DUP) application file for the Cigeo disposal facility. A Commission of Inquiry made up of 5 neutral and independent commissioners issued their favorable opinion on 20th December .
The argumented opinion, the general conclusions and the report were published on December 20, 2021 in French, on several official websites (find a link to the report below).
The public inquiry attracted a broad public participation with a total of 4,158 contributions. The Commission of Inquiry notes that "the public inquiry will have led to numerous contributions from the public, most of them well argued, the majority in favor of the project."
The Commission of Inquiry issued:
- a favorable opinion on the declaration of public utility, and expressed 5 recommendations:
- establish a prudent timetable for prior arrangements in the event of obtaining authorizations;
- ensure a harmonious landscape integration with the rural landscape;
- proceed with a gradual clearing of Lejuc wood, solely for the needs of the DRAC in order to preserve biodiversity as much as possible;
- maintain a visual screen on the southern part to preserve the views from the surrounding villages;
- complete communication to the public in its neighboring territory and adapt it according to Cigeo's operational phase, while recognizing the importance of the communication already carried out by Andra.
- A favorable opinion for the required update of town planning documents which, according to the committee, do not present excessive disadvantages compared to the public utility offered by the project.
What are the next steps ?
The communities concerned by the update of town planning documents will be subject to a request to issue a new opinion on this part of the file.
On the basis of all the elements, and after the opinion of the State Council (the highest administrative court), the declaration of public utility could then be issued by a decree of the Prime Minister.
The DUP procedure
The dossier submitted for examination was the subject of opinion statements from the Environmental Authority in January 2021 and the local authorities concerned by the project. Questions were submitted by the reviewers, to which Andra provided detailed answers in a series of documents. Following the opinions issued, Andra updated the DUP file before the start of the public inquiry.
The DUP stage is a first milestone prior to the filing of a series of authorization requests necessary for the advancement of the Cigeo disposal facility project. The declaration of public utility is not intended to authorize the project, but to recognize its public utility.