{"id":6467,"date":"2021-05-30T16:47:11","date_gmt":"2021-05-30T16:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bure3iqeqde7ynpluyuubochndt33wwsbkmo7kgf32bmli4zigjwvzid.onion\/?p=6467"},"modified":"2021-06-13T11:19:32","modified_gmt":"2021-06-13T11:19:32","slug":"cigeos-dup-stakes-of-a-fools-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bureburebure.info\/en\/cigeos-dup-stakes-of-a-fools-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Cig\u00e9o\u2019s DUP\u00a0: Stakes of a Fool\u2019s Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"justify\"><em>You can find this article in booklet format here:<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"justify\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/bureburebure.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Cigeos-DUP-english-june-2021.pdf\">Cigeo&#8217;s DUP &#8211; english &#8211; june 2021<\/a> (pdf) &#8212; <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/bureburebure.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Cigeos-DUP-english-june-2021.odt\"><em>odt<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\">\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\"><b>What is the DUP\u00a0?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">The <i>D\u00e9claration d\u2019Utilit\u00e9 Publique<\/i> (DUP), which translates to \u201cPublic Utility Declaration\u201d, is an administrative procedure that allows the State to requisition a parcel of land or a private property in order to develop infrastructures that are supposedly of general interest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">Officially, the DUP for the Cig\u00e9o project aims to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">allow Andra to expropriate landowners who refuse to sell their land;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">politically legitimize the Cig\u00e9o project by labeling it a \u201cpublic interest project\u201d;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">compel local authorities to modify their urban planning documents and make them compatible with the project (for instance, to make agricultural or forestry plots buildable).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">This procedure does not authorize the construction of the nuclear waste storage center itself: this will be the subject of the \u201cRequest for Authorization to Create\u201d (<i>Demande d\u2019Autorisation de Cr\u00e9ation<\/i> \u2013 DAC) the nuclear facility, which should be submitted by 2022 (a date to be taken with a pinch of salt since this deadline has been regularly postponed by Andra, which seems to have a hard time demonstrating the project\u2019s safety). The DAC will take the form of a huge technical dossier detailing the design of Cig\u00e9o, in which Andra will have to prove that its nuclear dump project is \u201csafe\u201d enough to be officially launched. It will take several years before the DAC is validated, and the Cig\u00e9o project cannot legally receive nuclear waste until this complex procedure is completed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\"><b>In the DUP\u2019s surprise package: the \u201cPrior Development Work\u201d phase<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">In its application, Andra claims that \u201c<i>the purpose of issuing the DUP decree is not to authorize the construction of the Cig\u00e9o storage center, but to recognize that the project is of public interest.<\/i>\u201d However, if we take a closer look at the 4,000 pages dossier, we realize that Andra intends to start the first construction works, known as \u201cprior development works\u201d, as soon as the DUP is validated, even before the Cig\u00e9o project is authorized.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">Andra uses the term \u201cprior development work\u201d to imply that the works will be harmless. In reality, they will cause irreversible destruction, particularly for flora and fauna. The impact on local landscape and agriculture will be colossal: the hills will be ripped open, and the works will be visible from the villages of Bure, Saudron, Mandres and many others. Countless nuisances and harmful consequences for the inhabitants and farmers are to be expected from this immense construction site: noise pollution, vibrations, water and air pollution from volatile compounds (dust, nitrogen and sulfur oxides, combustion gases, etc.)\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">So, what exactly is Andra planning as \u201cprior development works\u201d? These DUP works that they barely dare to mention? Here\u2019s a nauseating foretaste:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">The <b>expropriation<\/b> of land and properties coveted by Andra for Cig\u00e9o and its related infrastructure. If the government validates the DUP, Andra will be able to go from to get what they want. One of such coveted land is the former train station of Lum\u00e9ville-en-Ornois, a collective residence opposed to Cig\u00e9o; but many other sites are also under threat of expropriation.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">The <b>deforestation, <\/b><b>clearing<\/b><b> and <\/b><b>destruction<\/b> of agricultural and forest land for Cig\u00e9o\u2019s surface facilities. The Bois Lejuc is especially in Andra\u2019s sights and is expected to be deforested very quickly. Preventive archaeological excavations, land clearings and earthworks will ensue in all targeted areas.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">The construction of the <b>huge electrical transformer<\/b> (400,000 V) and <b>two electrical relay stations<\/b> needed for the site\u2019s power supply.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">The rehabilitation of about 50 km of railroad and the construction of a new portion named \u201cTerminal Junction Facility\u201d (<i>Installation Terminale Embranch\u00e9e<\/i> \u2013 ITE) dedicated to the transport of construction materials and nuclear waste convoys.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">The construction of <b>departmental road <\/b><b>diversions<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">The <b>use of considerable amounts of water<\/b> for the worksites, requiring water to be pumped from springs as far as 20 km away and making some municipalities around Cig\u00e9o vulnerable to water shortages.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">Constant <b>heavy truck <\/b><b>and machinery<\/b><b> traffic<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">All in all, 700 ha of land are to be destroyed during this first phase of the project, despite Cig\u00e9o not even having been authorized yet!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\"><b>The DUP: a deceitful Trojan horse<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">Filing the DUP before the DAC is an administrative trick that is part of Andra\u2019s strategy to force the Cig\u00e9o project through. This is yet another instance of the same <i>fait accompli<\/i> politics that Andra has been carrying out for years. Andra had already tried to start certain works in the past, such as deforesting and building a fence around the Bois Lejuc; other works, such as geological surveys and land clearings along the future railroad, are currently underway. Who can really believe that the government will still assess the risks objectively and agree to abandon its nuclear dump project after the land has already been expropriated, the roads rerouted, the archaeological surveys carried out, the water and electricity networks connected, the Bois Lejuc deforested, and several billion euros invested to buy the social acceptability of Cig\u00e9o?<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\"><b>Depopulating Meuse and Haute-Marne<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">The negative advisory opinion of the French Environmental Authority on Cig\u00e9o\u2019s DUP application is clear as daylight: \u201c<i>On the long term, pursuant to the precautionary principle, it would be rational to seek to limit the population exposed to the <\/i>[nuclear] <i>hazard, even it if is very low.<\/i>\u201d Andra\u2019s intention is twofold: on the one hand, to bribe locals into accepting the project (60 millions euros are spent each year in the two departments as \u201ceconomic support\u201d for the area); on the other hand, to depopulate and nuclearize the territory. Thus, Andra floods the municipalities with public funds to rebuild roads, fancy streetlights and community centers, but lets local activities and services die out, such as the Montiers-sur-Saulx middle school.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">In the DUP process, Andra is legally required to consult the municipalities most affected by the project. In this regard, very few villages (11 municipalities within a 10 km radius) have been consulted, despite the many potential harmful impacts of Cig\u00e9o on a much larger scale. Despite this limited number of villages and the lies of Andra, four municipalities have already officially opposed the DUP, including the villages of Bure and Mandres-en-Barrois. In the words of Bure\u2019s municipal council: \u201c<i>With Cig\u00e9o, Andra will provide us with answers to the questions that we are asking, but these answers will never be 100% reassuring for the population. This is why the municipal council chooses to issue a negative opinion and stands its ground <\/i><i>as<\/i><i> a village that is going to die crushed by a juggernaut.<\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\"><b>Fighting against Cig\u00e9o<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">Far from falling prey to fatalism and resignation, let us not forget that Cig\u00e9o has not yet been approved. It has already faced many delays, and Andra\u2019s dossiers are still very shaky. Let us not forget that this project has faced a strong opposition from its beginning, and that Andra has been driven out of many departments already (Ain, Aisne, Maine-et-Loire, Deux-S\u00e8vres\u2026). Let us not forget the deaths of two Andra employees in 2002 and 2016, following the digging of galleries at the Bure\/Saudron laboratory. The causes of the 2016 death have still not been elucidated. Who will be sacrificed next?<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">In other countries, similar nuclear waste storage projects, such as Gorleben in Germany or the SKB project in Sweden, have been stopped by their opponents. Others that went through have proven to be real catastrophes: the irreversible accidents at the WIPP radioactive waste storage center in the United States, the flood of the Asse mine in Germany used as a nuclear waste dump, or the Stocamine project in Alsace, regarding which the French government recently decided that the 42,000 tons of mercury, arsenic, cyanide, etc., will be remain at 500 m below ground following a fire, despite their contaminating the largest water table in Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">The Cig\u00e9o project is destructive and deadly. Whether the DUP is validated or not, we are determined to keep opposing it until it is abandoned. It is important to fight against the DUP, as well as the expropriations and deforestation that will follow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"right\"><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Sans, sans-serif;\">Opponents to the Cig\u00e9o project<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You can find this article in booklet format here: Cigeo&#8217;s DUP &#8211; english &#8211; june 2021 (pdf) &#8212; odt What is the DUP\u00a0? The D\u00e9claration d\u2019Utilit\u00e9 Publique (DUP), which translates to \u201cPublic Utility Declaration\u201d, is an administrative procedure that allows the State to requisition a parcel of land or a private property in order to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4300,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_locale":"en_GB","_original_post":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[423],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cigeo","en-GB"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bureburebure.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bureburebure.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bureburebure.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bureburebure.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bureburebure.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6467"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/bureburebure.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6517,"href":"https:\/\/bureburebure.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6467\/revisions\/6517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bureburebure.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bureburebure.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bureburebure.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bureburebure.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}