ASN Report 2018

NORMANDIE REGIONAL OVERVIEWOF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION ASN nevertheless noted diverse shortcomings during its reactor outage inspection in 2018, which tend to indicate that safety management needs to be stepped up for outage monitoring. ASN considers that the quality of the authorisation application files must also be improved and their transmission better anticipated. With regard to the 10-yearly outage of reactor 1, ASN considers that the preparation and tracking of the works andmaintenance operations must be significantly improved. ASN considers that the licensee must also improve the monitoring of the reactor restarting process which enables it to ensure compliance with the safety baseline requirements. Lastly, ASN considers that the internal checks of the activities performed must be improved. With regard to reactor operation and management, ASN considers that the site’s performance is satisfactory on the whole, but the efforts made in the analysis of the periodic tests must be continued. With regard to radiation protection, ASN considers that the organisation in place is satisfactory when the reactors are in operation. During the reactor outages, however, the management of access to limited-stay areas and the monitoring of limited-term contract or temporary personnel must be improved, as must the control of contaminated equipment storage conditions. With regard to environmental protection, ASN considers that the organisation in place for the management of discharges and waste is satisfactory. The management of waste during reactor outages must however be further improved. Paluel nuclear power plant The Paluel NPP operated by EDF in themunicipality of Paluel in the Seine‑Maritime département , 30 km south-west of Dieppe, comprises four 1,300MWe pressurisedwater reactors, commissioned between 1984 and 1986. Reactors 1, 2, 3 and 4 constitute BNIs 103, 104, 114 and 115 respectively. The site accommodates one of the regional bases of the FARN, the special Nuclear Rapid Intervention Force created by EDF in 2011 further to the Fukushima NPP accident. Its role is to intervene in pre-accident or accident situations, on any nuclear power plant in France, by providing additional human resources and emergency equipment. ASN considers that performance of the Paluel NPP with regard to nuclear safety and radiation protection is on the whole in line with the general assessment of EDF, and that its environmental protection performance is even more satisfactory. With regard to reactor operation and management, ASN considers that the site’s performance is satisfactory on the whole, even if the periodic tests must be scheduled with greater rigour, particularly during reactor outages. ASN considers that themanagement of fire detection inhibitions and the quality of the risk analyses during interventionsmust be improved. Lastly, ASN considers it necessary to continue improving the rigour in the preparation and monitoring of maintenance activities. With regard to reactor 2, the 10-yearly outage which began in May 2015 ended in July 2018. ASN considers that the repair operations on the equipment impacted by the fall of the steam generator in 2016 were carried out satisfactorily. Reactor 2 is the first of the 1,300 MWe plant series on which EDF has replaced the steam generators. ASN considers that the requalification operations, which include themain primary systemhydrostatic test, were carried out satisfactorily. Lastly, during restarting of the reactor after a shutdown of more than three years, ASN checked that the variousmaterial difficulties had been resolved. As for reactor 3, ASN considers that its outagewent well on the whole, even though it lasted longer than planned due to an unexpected finding in the reactor vessel head. ASN also notes that the development of corrosion on the equipment located outside the buildings needs to be better taken into account. With regard to radiation protection, ASN considers that the organisation in place is satisfactory when the reactors are in operation. During reactor outages however, the management of entries into controlled areas and control of the contamination riskmust be improved. Several significant events reflect a lack of radiation protection culture in some of the workers. With regard to environmental protection, ASN considers that the organisation in place for themanagement of discharges and waste is satisfactory. The sitemade a significant effort in 2018 to improve the leak-tightness of its cooling units. The management of radioactive waste stored in the dedicated building, however, must be further improved. Penly nuclear power plant The Penly NPP operated by EDF in the Seine-Maritine département in themunicipality of Penly, 15 kmnorth-east of Dieppe, comprises two 1,300 MWe pressurised water reactors commissioned between 1990 and 1992. Reactor 1 constitutes BNI 136 and reactor 2 BNI 140. ASN considers that the performance of the Penly NPP with regard to nuclear safety, radiation protection and environmental protection is, on the whole, in line with the general assessment of EDF plant performance. The licensee must nevertheless continue the efforts made in 2018 in safety management, particularly as regards the management of deviations. With regard to operation and reactor management, ASN considers that the site’s performance is satisfactory on the whole. ASN considers that particular attention must be paid to the preparation of operational management activities in order to reinforce the rigour during work on the equipment and during the periodic tests. The management of operational control procedures called out in the phases ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2018  63