ASN Report 2018

For the medium and long term, ASN has three messages: • • In the nuclear industry, time-frames are long. If something is not initiated or demonstrated in the short term, it will not be operational in 10 years’ time. It is ASN’s role to encourage the stakeholders to anticipate whenever nuclear safety or radiation protection are at stake. It does this with respect to the consistency of the nuclear fuel cycle and the management of radioactive materials and waste. In the future, it will do so for the implementation of the future multi-year energy plan, but also in the medical sector, when technological or radiopharmaceutical innovations require that specific radiation protection issues be taken into consideration beforehand. • • Faced with potential hazards, faced with the ageing of facilities or the possible discovery of a hitherto unidentified fault, the licensees must make sure that they keep sufficient margins for safety and do not seek to reduce them with a view to optimization or to justify retaining the status-quo. ASN must remain vigilant on this point. • • The nuclear sector must devote efforts to maintaining and developing the key industrial competencies vital to the quality of the work done and the safety of the facilities. Difficulties in the performance of conventional industrial operations (welding, electromechanical work, civil engineering and non-destructive testing), were encountered during the construction of new facilities and during work on facilities in operation. These difficulties have raised doubts regarding the ability of the sector to carry out the large-scale work involved in the continued operation of the existing facilities, decommissioning or the construction of new reactors, with the required level of quality. This situation requires a collective and strategic re-engagement by the industry on professional training and on industrial competencies, in order to achieve the level of quality and safety expected of the nuclear sector. This process, initiated notably with the creation of the French Nuclear Energy Industry Group (GIFEN), must now be intensified. The nuclear fuel cycle: significant progress in 2018 ASN periodically examines the overall consistency of the industrial choices made by EDF, Orano Cycle, Framatome and Andra to ensure that the fuel cycle is well-managed in terms of nuclear safety and radiation protection issues. In this context, the need for new spent fuel storage capacity was identified. EDF sent the safety options dossier for a centralised storage pool project. Following an assessment in 2018, ASN will issue an opinion in 2019. In 2018, ASN issued its opinion on the fuel cycle consistency dossier for the period 2016‑2030. It considers that this file satisfactorily presents the consequences of different fuel cycle evolution scenarios on the facilities, on transport operations and on waste. However, the consequences of unforeseen events which could affect the operation of the cycle need to be studied in greater depth. ASN underlines the risk of saturation of the spent fuel storage capacity if no new facilities are built, as well as the need to anticipate any strategic evolution in the operation of the fuel cycle at least ten years in advance. In this respect, ASN asked the industry to examine, with regard to nuclear safety and radiation protection, the consequences of the multi-year energy plan on the nuclear fuel cycle, each time it is revised. From left to right: Jean‑Luc LACHAUME – Commissioner; Lydie ÉVRARD – Commissioner; Bernard DOROSZCZUK – Chairman; Philippe CHAUMET‑RIFFAUD – Commissioner; Sylvie CADET‑MERCIER – Commissioner ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2018  3