ASN Report 2018

Decree 2007-1572 of 6 November 2007 on technical inquiries into accidents or incidents concerning a nuclear activity specifies the procedure to be followed. It is based on practices defined for the other inquiry commissions and takes account of aspects specific to ASN, notably its independence, its own roles, its ability to impose binding requirements or sanctions. 3.3.4  –  Statistical summary of events In 2018, 1,956 significant events were reported to ASN: ∙ ∙ 1,190 significant events concerning nuclear safety, radiation protection and the environment in BNIs; 1,092 of these events were rated on the INES scale (989 events rated level 0 and 103 events rated level 1). Of these events, 26 significant events were rated as “generic events”, in other words concerning several reactors, of which 5 were rated level 1 on the INES scale; ∙ ∙ 91 significant events concerning the transport of radioactive substances, including 3 level 1 events on the INES scale; ∙ ∙ 675 significant events concerning radiation protection in small-scale nuclear activities, including 165 rated on the INES scale (of which 22 were level 1 events). In 2018, none of the events reports to ASN was rated above level 1 on the INES scale, whether in the field of BNIs, small-scale nuclear activities, or the transport of radioactive substances. As indicated earlier, these data must be used with caution: they do not in themselves constitute a safety indicator. ASN encourages the licensees to notify incidents, which contributes to transparency and the sharing of experience. The distribution of significant events rated on the INES scale is specified in Table 6. The INES scale does not apply to significant events affecting patients and the rating on the ASN-SFRO scale (2) of significant events affecting one or more radiotherapy patients is explained in chapter 7. Likewise, significant events concerning the environment but involving non-radiological substances are not covered by the INES scale. 2. This scale is designed for communication with the public in comprehensible, explicit terms, concerning radiation protection events leading to unexpected or unforeseeable effects affecting patients undergoing an external radiotherapy medical procedure. Such events are classified as “out of INES scale” events. Graphs 5 to 10 describe in detail the significant events notified to ASN in 2018, differentiating between them according to the various notification criteria for each field of activity. 3.4  ̶  Heightening the awareness of professionals and cooperating with the other administrations Regulation is supplemented by awareness programmes designed to ensure familiarity with the regulations and their application in practical terms appropriate to the various professions. ASN aims to encourage and support initiatives by the professional organisations that implement this approach by issuing best practice and professional information guides. Awareness-raising also involves joint actions with other administrations and organisations which oversee the same facilities, but with different prerogatives. One could here mention the labour inspectorate, the medical devices inspectorate work by the ANSM, the medical activities inspectorate work entrusted to the technical services of the Ministry of Health, or the oversight of small-scale nuclear activities at the Ministry of Defence entrusted to the Armed Forces General Inspectorate, jointly with ASN. 3.5  ̶  Information about ASN’s regulatory activity ASN attaches importance to coordinating government departments and informs the other departments concerned of its inspection programme, the follow-up to its inspections, the penalties imposed on the licensees and any significant events. To ensure that its inspection work is transparent, ASN informs the public by placing the following on its website asn.fr : ∙ ∙ its resolutions and decisions; ∙ ∙ inspection follow-up letters for all the activities it inspects; ∙ ∙ approvals and accreditations it issues or rejects; ∙ ∙ incident notifications; ∙ ∙ the results of reactor outages; ∙ ∙ its publications on specific subjects. Rating of significant events on the INES scale between 2013 and 2018 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Basic Nuclear Installations (BNIs) Level 0 905 872 848 847 949 989 Level 1 103 99 89 101 87 103 Level 2 2 0 1 0 4 0 Level 3 and + 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total BNI 1,010 971 938 948 1,040 1,092 Small-scale nuclear activities (medical and industrial) Level 0 130 157 126 111 144 143 Level 1 22 34 25 30 36 22 Level 2 2 4 2 0 3 0 Level 3 and + 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total NPx 154 195 153 141 183 165 Transport of radioactive substances Level 0 50 60 56 59 64 88 Level 1 1 3 9 5 2 3 Level 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 Level 3 and + 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total TSR 51 63 66 64 66 91 Total 1,215 1,229 1,157 1,153 1,289 1,348 Table 6 144  ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2018 03 – REGULATION OF NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES AND EXPOSURE TO IONISING RADIATION