ASN Report 2018

T he Bordeaux division regulates nuclear safety, radiation protection and the transport of radioactive substances in the 12 départements of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Nouvelle-Aquitaine region In 2018, ASN carried out 141 inspections in the Nouvelle‑Aquitaine region, comprising 45 inspections in the Blayais and Civaux NPPs, 80 inspections in the small- scale nuclear activity sector, 6 inspections in the area of radioactive substance transport and 10 inspections of approved organisations and laboratories. ASN also carried out 21 days of labour inspection at the Blayais NPP and 11 days at the Civaux NPP. During 2018, 10 significant events rated level 1 on the INES scale were notified by the NPP licensees in the Nouvelle- Aquitaine region. In small-scale nuclear activities, 8 events concerning radiotherapy patients were rated level 1 on the ASN‑SFRO scale and 1 was rated level 2. Blayais nuclear power plant Situated in the Gironde département , 50 km north of Bordeaux, the Blayais site accommodates the NPP operated by EDF. This NPP comprises four 900 MWe pressurised water reactors. Reactors 1 and 2 constitute BNI 86 and reactors 3 and 4 BNI 110. ASN considers that the performance of the Blayais NPP with respect to its general assessment of EDF performance: •  is on the whole comparable with regard to nuclear safety; •  stands out positively with regard to radiation protection; •  is below average with regard to environmental protection. With regard to safety, ASN notes that the reactor refuelling and maintenance outages went well. ASN nevertheless observes that the site has persistent difficulties in planning, preparing and performing the periodic tests required by the general operating rules. As in the preceding years, the quality REGIONAL OVERVIEWOF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION THE INSTALLATIONS AND ACTIVITIES TO REGULATE COMPRISE: ཛྷ ཛྷ BNIs: t ݸݸ he Blayais NPP (4 reactors of 900 MWe); t ݸݸ he Civaux NPP (2 reactors of 1,450 MWe); ཛྷ ཛྷ small-scale nuclear activities in the medical sector: ݸݸ 19 external-beam radiotherapy departments; ݸݸ 6 brachytherapy departments; ݸݸ 24 nuclear medicine departments; ݸݸ 91 centres performing fluoroscopy-guided interventional procedures; ݸݸ 90 computed tomography scanners; ݸݸ some 6,000 medical and dental radiology devices; ཛྷ ཛྷ small-scale nuclear activities in the veterinary, industrial and research sectors: ݸݸ 679 industrial and research establishments, including 46 companies exercising an industrial radiography activity; ݸݸ 1 cyclotron particle accelerator; ݸݸ 67 laboratories situated mainly in the universities of the region; ݸݸ 19 companies using gamma ray densitometers and 352 users of devices for detecting lead in paint; ݸݸ 475 veterinary surgeries or clinics practising diagnostic radiology; ཛྷ ཛྷ activities linked to the transport of radioactive substances; ཛྷ ཛྷ ASN-approved laboratories and organisations: 5 ݸݸ organisations approved for radiation protection technical controls. 8 ݸݸ organisations approved for measuring radon; 4 ݸݸ laboratories approved for taking environmental radioactivity measurements. see p. 200 see p. 230 see p. 256 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2018  73