ASN Report 2018

4.2  ̶  Monitoring all the stages in the life of a package ASN performs inspections at all the stages in the life of a package: from manufacture and maintenance of a packaging, to package preparation, shipment and reception. In 2018, ASN carried out 109 inspections in the field of radioactive substances transport (all sectors considered). The follow-up letters to these inspections are available on asn.fr . 4.2.1  –  Regulation of package manufacturing The manufacture of transport packaging is subject to the regulations applicable to the transport of radioactive substances. The manufacturer is responsible for producing packagings in accordance with the specifications of the safety case, demonstrating regulatory compliance of the corresponding package model. To do this, it implements a quality assurance system covering all the operations from procurement of parts and materials up to final inspections. Furthermore, the manufacturer must be able to prove to ASN that it complies with the regulatory provisions and, in particular, that the packagings manufactured are compliant with the specifications of the safety case. The inspections carried out by ASN in this field aim to ensure that the manufacturer satisfactorily fulfils its responsibilities. In 2018, ASN carried out five inspections on the manufacturing of various packagings for which ASN had issued an approval certificate, at various steps in the manufacturing process: welding, final assembly, manufacturing completion checks, assembly of internals (for immobilising the contents) and so on. For example, on 25 September 2018, ASN inspected the manufacture in China of twenty-five 30B cylinders used to transport UF 6 . The inspectors examined how Orano Cycle, the ordering customer, monitored its subcontractors. During these inspections, ASN checks the quality assurance procedures implemented for the manufacturing of a package on the basis of the design data and verifies their effective implementation. ASN ensures that the inspections performed by or on behalf of the manufacturer and any known manufacturing deviations are traceable. It also visits the manufacturing shops to check the package components storage conditions, the calibration of the inspection instruments and compliance with the technical procedures at the various manufacturing steps (welding, assembly, etc.). ASN checks the monitoring of package manufacturing by the lead contractor and may intervene directly on the sites of any subcontractors, who may sometimes be located abroad. ASN may also inspect the manufacture of the specimens used for the regulation drop tests and fire tests. The objectives are the same as for the series production model because the specimens must be representative and comply with the maximum requirements indicated in the mock-up manufacturing file, which will determine the minimum characteristics of the actual packaging to be manufactured. In 2019, ASN intends to continue spot-check inspections of transport packaging manufacturing. This is because the irregularities detected at the Creusot Forge plant, which more particularly affected a few transport packagings, highlighted the importance of checking the packaging manufacturing and maintenance operations. 4.2.2  –  Packaging maintenance inspections The consignor or user of a packaging filled with radioactive substances must be able to prove to ASN that this packaging is periodically inspected and, if necessary, repaired and maintained in good condition such that it continues to satisfy all the relevant requirements and specifications of its safety case and its approval certificate, even after repeated use. For approved packagings, the topics of ASN inspections on maintenance activities include, for example: ∙ ∙ the periodic inspections of the components of the containment system (screws, welds, seals, etc.); ∙ ∙ the periodic inspections of the securing and handling components; ∙ ∙ definition of the frequency of replacement of the packaging components which must take account of any reduction in performance due to wear, corrosion, ageing, etc. ASN inspection on the Orano Cycle site at Tricastin, concerning the maintenance of packagings loaded with UF 6 – September 2018  New TN G3 packaging Certificate of approval for the TN G3 package In 2018, ASN issued an approval certificate for the new TN G3 package model developed by TN International (subsidiary of Orano). This new model will, by 2025, be replacing the TN 12/2 and TN 13/2 packagings currently authorised for the transport of spent fuels from EDF’s NPPs to the Orano reprocessing plant at La Hague. Because they do not have a double tightness barrier, these packagings do not actually meet all the requirements applicable since the 2012 edition of the IAEA regulations (SSR-6). 268  ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2018 09 – TRANSPORT OF RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES