ASN Report 2018

the licensee’s organisation set up for the monitoring of these contractors. Finally, ASN considers that the NPPs must maintain their level of vigilance to ensure compliance with package stowage rules for on-site transport operations. 4.2.5  –  Oversight of preparedness for emergency management In order to reinforce the preparedness of the transport operators (mainly consignors and carriers) for emergency management, ASN published Guide No. 17 in December 2014 on the content of accident and incident management plans concerning the transport of radioactive substances. This guide recommends the drafting of plans to prepare for emergency management and stipulates their minimum contents. In order to check correct application of this guide, ASN carried out an inspection in 2018 at Actemium – a supplier of gamma ray projectors –on the topic of preparedness for emergency situations. The inspectors in particular examined the organisation in place, the material and human resources available, personnel training and the emergency exercises held. 4.2.6  –  Analysis of transport events The safety of the transport of radioactive substances relies, among other things, on the existence of an effective system for detecting and processing anomalies, deviations or, more generally, any abnormal events that could occur. Therefore, once detected, these events must be analysed in order to: ∙ ∙ prevent identical or similar events from happening again by taking appropriate corrective and preventive measures; ∙ ∙ prevent a more serious situation from developing by analysing the potential consequences of events which could be precursors of more serious events; ∙ ∙ identify the best practices to be promoted in order to improve transport safety. The regulations also require that ASN must be notified of the most important events so that it can ensure that the detection system, the analysis approach and the integration of operating experience feedback are effective. This also provides ASN with an overview of events so that the sharing of operating experience feedback can be encouraged between the various stakeholders – including internationally – and so that ASN can consider potential changes to the provisions governing the transport of radioactive substances. Any significant event concerning the transport of radioactive substances, whether the consequences are real or potential, must be the subject of ASN notification within four working days, as stipulated in its event notification Guide No. 31 and as required by Article 7 of the Order of 29 May 2009, amended, on the transport of dangerous goods by road. The ASN guide was entirely revised in 2017 and is available for consultation on asn.fr . After notification, a detailed event report must be sent to ASN within two months. • Events notified in 2018 In 2018, with regard to the transport of radioactive substances, ASN was notified of 88 INES level 0 events and 3 INES level 1 events. Graph 4 shows the trend in the number of significant events notified since 2001. In addition, ASN was notified of 30 events of lesser importance (Events of Interest for the safety of Transport – EIT). Given that they have no actual or potential consequences, these events are not rated on the INES scale (International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale). There is thus no obligation to notify ASN of them, although ASN nonetheless wishes to be kept periodically informed in order to have an overview of the various events of lesser importance and detect any accumulation or any trends which could be indicative of a problem. • Sectors concerned by these events More than half of the significant events notified concern the nuclear industry. More than one quarter concerns radioactive pharmaceutical products. The other events concern transport related to non-nuclear industrial activities (gamma radiography for example). When compared with the transport traffic concerned, the non-nuclear industry and medical sectors still report few transport-related events. This low ratio can be explained by a lack of understanding of the process and of the purpose of event notification. However, ASN observes a significant rise in the number of events notified in 2018 by comparison with previous years, as a result of ASN’s communication efforts with the 2017 publication of its Guide No. 31. With the deployment of its on-line services portal, ASN is also expecting to see a further improvement in the notification ratio in these sectors by comparison with previous years. Inspection of shipment of spent fuels from a research reactor in Australia to the Orano site at La Hague In September  2018, the ASN inspectors went to the port of Cherbourg to inspect an arriving ship carrying four containers, each holding a TN MTR package of spent fuel, as well as a container of contaminated tools. They inspected the hold of the ship before the containers were offloaded. They more particularly checked the good condition and stowage of the packages, as well as the required distances between them. They questioned the captain of the vessel and examined the loading plan, the ship’s radiological protection plan, the applicable emergency measures and the crew training and awareness-raising sessions carried out. The inspectors then attended the offloading of the packages from the vessel and their loading onto trailers for transport by road. They examined the handling means used and checked the compliance of the vehicles, the signage and the labelling, as well as the qualification of the drivers. They also checked the measurement means and the qualifications of the operators in charge of radiological measurements on behalf of the consignor. Before the vehicles left, the inspectors examined the transport documents to verify the traceability of package conformity since their departure. The inspectors also had IRSN personnel carry out dose equivalent rate and contamination measurements on a package, on the containers and on a trailer. The results obtained confirmed compliance with the applicable regulatory limits. In the light of this examination, the inspectors considered that the safety of the transport operations and its organisation were satisfactory. 270  ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2018 09 – TRANSPORT OF RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES