ASN Report 2018

2.4  ̶  Organisation of the nuclear fuel cycle facility licensees The year 2018 was marked by the reorganisation of the Areva group. Its nuclear fuel conversion, enrichment, reprocessing activities and its fabrication of fuel containing plutonium are now merged within Orano Cycle, while the enriched uranium nuclear fuel fabrication activities are grouped within Framatome, which is owned by several industrial groups and EDF, which now holds a majority stake. During this process, Orano Cycle and Framatome demonstrated considerable transparency with respect to ASN, regularly presenting the decisions in progress and any residual uncertainties. This transparency illustrates the positive trend observed by ASN in recent years with regard to its high-level relations with these industrial stakeholders. During the course of 2018, ASN carried out several inspections in the head office departments of these groups. Framatome and Orano Cycle signed agreements for management of their inter-dependence, notably in the field of emergency management and Operating Experience Feedback (OEF). Generally speaking, ASN notes that the pooling of expertise, emergency management and OEF resources, through joint coordination of networks on transverse safety, environment and industrial risk topics, is now operational and enables each group to maintain the technical and organisational capacity it needs to carry out its duties as licensee. ASN found that significant changes have been made within Orano, notably with regard to the deployment of the 2017‑2020 safety-environment policy linked to the strategic plan and the priorities set by the general management. In this respect, the new organisation of the Group, which separated its independent safety organisation from its central operational safety department, is a step in the right direction. 2.5  ̶  Particular regulatory actions conducted in consultation with the Defence Nuclear Safety Authority (ASND) The upcoming declassification of the Tricastin DBNI to a BNI will mean that ASN will take over responsibility for oversight of these facilities. Together with the Defence Nuclear Safety Authority (ASND), ASN ensures that consistency is maintained in the application of the safety and radiation protection requirements for the facilities under their respective responsibility on the Tricastin site. Most of the facilities regulated by the ASND have in fact been shut down or are being decommissioned and no longer play a role in national defence. In this respect, they no longer need to be subject to secrecy measures and will thus be gradually declassified to BNI status in the coming years. ASN and ASND have set up a working group to clarify the steps involved in ASN’s takeover of the regulation of the safety of activities on this site. The decision was made that this takeover will be gradual and will be an opportunity to reorganise the oversight of the Tricastin site, so that the whole site, including soils contaminated by legacy pollution, are under the control of one or other of the safety regulators. Jointly with the ASND, ASN will propose to the Minister responsible for Nuclear Safety a reclassification of the various DBNI facilities on the site as BNIs, with the aim of minimising the number of steps involved. Depending on their purpose, the various DBNI facilities should be grouped within existing or new BNIs. Their safety baseline requirements will then need to be brought into line with the BNI System. ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2018  325 11 – NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE INSTALLATIONS 11