ASN Report 2018

NORMANDIE REGIONAL OVERVIEWOF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION La Hague site The Orano site at La Hague is located on the north-west tip of the Cotentin peninsula, in the Manche département , 20 km west of Cherbourg and 6 km fromCap de La Hague. This site is situated about fifteen kilometres from the Channel Islands. La Hague Orano Cycle reprocessing plants in operation  The La Hague plants for reprocessing fuel assemblies irradiated in the nuclear reactors are operated by Orano Cycle. The various facilities of the UP3-A (BNI 116) and UP2-800 (BNI 117) plants and of the STE3 (BNI 118) effluent treatment station were commissioned from 1986 (reception and storage of spent fuel assemblies) to 2002 (R4 plutonium reprocessing facility), with most of the process facilities entering service in 1989-1990. The Decrees of 10 January 2003 set the individual reprocessing capacity of each of the two plants at 1,000 tonnes per year, in terms of the quantities of uranium and plutonium contained in the fuel assemblies before burn-up (in the reactor), and limit the total capacity of the two plants to 1,700 tonnes per year. The limits and conditions for discharges and for water intake by the site are defined by two ASN resolutions of 22 December 2015. Operations carried out in the plant The reprocessing plants comprise several industrial units, each intended for a particular operation (see chapter 11). Consequently there are facilities for the reception and storage of spent fuel assemblies, for their shearing and dissolution, for the chemical separation of fission products, uranium and plutonium, for the purification of uraniumand plutonium, for treating the effluents and for packaging the waste. The effluents and waste generated by the operation of the plants The fission products and other transuranic elements resulting from reprocessing are concentrated, vitrified and packaged in Standard VitrifiedWaste Packages (CSD-V). The pieces of assembly cladding are compacted and packaged in Standard Compacted Waste Packages (CSD-C). These reprocessing operations, which are detailed in chapter 11, involve chemical and mechanical processes which produce gaseous and liquid effluents and solid waste. Oversight of the La Hague plants On-site transport Application of the general operating rules specific to the on-site transport of hazardous radioactive and non- radioactive substances is now operational on the La Hague site. The licensee has applied for an extension to the end-of-2018 deadline for the improvements in the transport systems demanded by ASN in its resolution of 3 May 2016, due to difficulties in implementing these improvements. This extension application is currently being examined by ASN. Tracking the compliance notice concerning the Nuclear Pressure Equipment (NPE) The La  Hague site plants contain various nuclear pressure equipment items which can present a high risk for safety. The design, manufacture and maintenance of nuclear pressure equipment is governed by a specific regulation, the ESPN (French acronym for NPE) Order. Through ASN resolution 2015-DC-0510 of 26 May 2015, ASN gave the licensee formal notice to comply with the regulatory obligations for periodic inspection of the NPE in service. This compliance notice resolution contains deadlines extending over the period from 31 January 2016 to 31 July 2018. For the 54 NPE items concerned by the compliance notice, the licensee has either carried out the required regulatory actions or submitted an equipment downgrading or shutdown notification, or applied for authorisation to waive the regulatory provisions by producing the necessary technical justifications. Their examination has led ASN to issue resolutions to authorise the waivers and set compensatorymeasures to guarantee a level of safety at least equivalent to that resulting from full accomplishment of the common lawmeasures. In the light of these elements, ASN notified the licensee on 7 September 2018 that the provisions of its compliance resolution 2015-DC-0510 were satisfied Additional requirements further to the stress tests In 2018, ASN continued its inspections concerning the implementation of physical and organisational measures associated with the stress tests carried out further to the Fukushima Daicchi accident. In particular, the provisions relative to the emergency situation management premises prescribed by ASN resolution 2015-DC-0483 of 8 January 2015 were put in place within the required time frame. ASNwill be particularly attentive in 2019 to the measures for managing the accident situations feared for legacy waste storage areas. Examination of the safety review reports In the context of the periodic safety review of BNI 117, ASN has verified the conformity check carried out by the licensee, and in particular the aspect concerning the ageing of the facilities. ASN notes that the methodological procedure adopted by the licensee for this periodic safety review is ambitious and rigorous. However, random sampling checks of its implementation have revealed deficiencies in traceability between the various steps of themethod used for 66  ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2018