Our Missions
Originally created as a department of the CEA (French Atomic Energy Committee) in 1979, Andra was made an independent entity by the Bataille Act in 1991. Currently Andra, short for French National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management, functions as a state-owned undertaking of industrial and commercial nature, and is in charge of long-term radioactive waste management on the French territory. Whilst independent from the waste producers, Andra is placed under the supervision of the ministers of Energy, Research and Environment respectively.
All Andra’s activities have one common goal – to ensure the protection of the present and the future generations and the environment from the effects of ionizing radiation – which translates into several main missions, defined in the Law of June 28, 2006 on the sustainable management of radioactive materials and waste:
Mission no.1: Design, scientific research and technological development
To study and develop solutions for sustainable management of those types of radioactive waste that do not yet have a final disposal method: high-level waste, intermediate-level long-lived waste and low-level long-lived waste.
Mission no.2: Industrial waste management activity
- To accept the waste from the electro-nuclear sector, from industries outside the electro-nuclear sector, from the National Defense, from the research and healthcare sectors;
- To operate and monitor radioactive waste disposal facilities so as to ensure safety of the human being and protection of the environment.
Mission no.3: Public Service and Raising Awareness
- To collect radioactive objects from private and public holders;
- To cleanup and remediate polluted territories;
- Every three years – to compile and to publish the National Inventory of Radioactive Waste and Materials in France;
- Provide clear and true information on the management of radioactive waste;
- To encourage and maintain the dialogue with stakeholders.
Mission no.4: Outreach on a national scale and abroad
- To develop scientific cooperation on a national, European and international levels;
- To promote Andra’s know-how and service offers in France and abroad;
- To promote scientific and technical culture as broadly as possible.
