ABSTRACT
This chapter is based on exploratory fieldwork conducted in the underground laboratory of the Agence nationale pour la gestion des déchets radioactifs. The purpose of this laboratory, located in the town of Bure in Lorraine, France, is to prepare the way for an underground nuclear waste disposal, called the Centre industriel de stockage géologique (CIGEO), where caverns excavated at a depth of 500 meters with a surface area of 30 km are to be used for burying long-lived nuclear waste. 'Long-lived nuclear waste', known as HAVL in French, comprises the untreatable residues from nuclear energy generated for industrial, military and civil purposes. Thousands of tons of nuclear waste were dumped into the sea before public opinion and some sections of the scientific community began to feel concerned about the potential effects on the natural environment. Nuclear waste is legally defined in France as 'final waste'.
