Over 5,500 visitors on Andra facilities in 2021

At the Bure Underground Research Laboratory (CMHM)

In 2021, the CMHM welcomed 3,147 visitors. Attendance declined, given the health context, but several key events still allowed us to welcome the public. It was indeed a year rich in events.

From July 3 to August 29, the "Zoom on our environment" program offered participants the opportunity to discover the work of the Perennial Observatory of the Environment in a fun way through an exhibition "all alive, all different" but also an escape game. !

This was a great success with 193 participants and above all excellent feedback from the public. The animation gave visitors 60 minutes to solve the puzzles left by the Comte de Buffon, a famous naturalist from the 18th century.

Several official visits also took place, with among others the visit of Jean Rottner, President of the Grand Est region, His Excellency Mr. IHARA Junichi, Ambassador of Japan in France, or Bruno David, President of the National Museum of Natural History. And we don't forget the SCAR robot !

At the Aube facilities: CSA and CIRES

Andra's industrial centers in Aube also did not avoid, in 2021, the drop in attendance due to the health context, despite the retturn of visits in February. However, the CSA and CIRES welcomed 1,516 visitors over the year, including students from twelve different universities and more than 270 people from the nuclear sector (EDF, Orano, CEA , AIEA and other international visitors).

Videoconferences, offered from 2020 to compensate for the suspension of site visits, continued in 2021. 108 people were able to benefit from them last year. Adapted in particular to the needs of school groups and their teachers, these remote presentations are increasingly appreciated as a first approach to radioactive waste management and can be combined with an on-site visit.

There was an additional opportunity to meet the public: the science festival. In  2021  Andra wanted to pay tribute to Marie Curie. 40 people attended the conference, entitled "Radioactivity, the radiation of a discovery", given by Renaud Huyhn, the director of the Curie museum in Paris.

At the centre de la Manche (CSM)

Despite the health context and a lackluster start to the year, the CSM welcomed 882 people in 2021. This represented 82 visits, including 15 technical visits organized for students or the nuclear industry.

2 open days were organized on Saturdays September 18 and October 16. 70 people (one half of them young people between 18 and 28 years old, in particular students in training in the nuclear or radiation protection sector, and another half of 35-45 year parents with their families) took part in the theatrical visits with the company Anchoring (see picture above) . These visits traced the 50-year history of the Manche disposal facility in an original way, all punctuated with anecdotes gathered from former employees or elected officials. Visitors could ask their questions and discuss with the facility staff during the guided tours that were offered.

The CSM also participated for the 3rd consecutive year in the Science Village of Cherbourg-En-Cotentin from October 8 to 10 with around twenty project leaders. 380 people, high school students and the general public came to discuss on the Andra stand. The Agency's missions and the activities of surveillance and transmission of the memory of the CSM were presented and in addition there was a demonstration of a particle detector, the cloud chamber, where particles emitted by radioactive elements can be observed. This proposed activity had a great success!