Abstracts ASN Report 2019

In the margins of the IAEA General Conference held in Vienna, Austria, ĹŅłŀ ӄӉׇŇł ӅӃׇ ĸŃŇĸŀĵĸŅ ӅӃӄӌ ё ĸŅŁĴŅķ łŅłņōĶōňľё the ASN Chairman and his counterpart at the CNSC, Rumina Velshi, signed the MoU for cooperation and exchange between the two authorities, renewed for a further period of five years. China In 2019 , discussions with the Chinese safety regulator, the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) took place mainly within the framework of multilateral projects and meetings, apart from those covered by the INSC instrument. They concerned the start-up tests on the EPR built in Taishan and the oversight of equipment manufacturing. Spain Ł ӅӇׇ ĶŇłĵĸŅ ӅӃӄӌ , a bilateral meeting was held in Madrid between ASN and its Spanish counterpart, the Consejo de Securidad Nuclear (CSN). The discussions concerned the maintenance of nuclear power reactors, the management of high-level waste and the handling of radiation protection events. This cooperation will continue, more particularly with the organisation of cross- inspections to compare the oversight of the NPPs in operation and with discussions on small-scale nuclear activities and issues concerning the management of high-level waste. ÈȇǣɎƺƳ ³ɎƏɎƺɀ Ņłŀ ӄӅׇŇł ӄӇׇ ĴŅĶĻ ӅӃӄӌ , ASN took part in the 31st conference of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC) in Washington. Each year, this conference is an opportunity for the NRC to present the regulation and oversight issues associated with its activities to American and foreign nuclear industry stakeholders. Ł ӄӇׇ ĴŅĶĻ ӅӃӄӌ , the 10th bilateral meeting between ASN and its counterpart NRC was held in Washington. During this meeting, the two Directors General, Margaret Doane and Olivier Gupta, discussed their respective national and regulatory topical matters, notably the anomalies affecting the welds on the main ņŇĸĴŀ ĿĸŇķłŊŁ ĿļŁĸņ łĹ ŇĻĸ ĿĴŀĴŁʼnļĿĿĸ ŅĸĴĶŇłŅё łŁĺłļŁĺ ŃňĵĿļĶ ļŁĹłŅŀĴŇļłŁ ĴŁķ ŃĴŅŇļĶļŃĴŇļłŁ ĴĶŇļłŁņ ļŁ ŅĴŁĶĸ ļŁ ӅӃӄӌё NRC experience in terms of licensing modular reactors and new cooperation actions (inspection practices, data analysis and digital transformation, drug and alcohol screening tests in nuclear facilities). They also signed the Memorandum of Understanding ĹłŅ ņĸĶłŁķŀĸŁŇ łĹ ĴŁ ņŇĴĹĹ ŀĸŀĵĸŅ Ňł ļŁ ӅӃӄӌє In addition, discussions between the two regulators in 2019 ׇĴĿņł covered: Ҋ management of emergency situations with the secondment of an ASN expert in March , to observe an emergency exercise at the NRC’s emergency centre and, in October , with the visit by an NRC expert to observe an emergency exercise at ASN’s emergency centre; Ҋ “environmental” aspects, with the participation of two NRC inspectors, in June , as observers during an ASN “environment” ļŁņŃĸĶŇļłŁ łŁ ŇĻĸ ĿĴŀĴŁʼnļĿĿĸ ņļŇĸє ASN also held discussions with the US Department of Energy (US DoE) on the management of decommissioning and post- operational clean-out projects for some of its nuclear facilities (the Hanford site in particular). IǣȇǼƏȇƳ Ņłŀ ӆӃׇ ĸŃŇĸŀĵĸŅ Ňł Ӆׇ ĶŇłĵĸŅ ӅӃӄӌ , a technical meeting ŊĴņ ĻĸĿķ ĵĸŇŊĸĸŁ ĴŁķ ŇĻĸ ļŁŁļņĻ ņĴĹĸŇŌ ŅĸĺňĿĴŇłŅ Ҏ ҏ ĴŇ ĻĸĴķńňĴŅŇĸŅņё ĹłĿĿłŊĸķ ĵŌ Ĵ ʼnļņļŇ Ňł ŇĻĸ ĿĴŀĴŁʼnļĿĿĸ EPR construction site, for discussions on the progress of the EPR projects In the two countries. The discussions primarily concerned topical technical subjects regarding the construction sites. In December 2019 , an ASN delegation went to Helsinki for a bilateral meeting with STUK. The two regulators discussed their respective national and regulatory topical matters and the challenges of the coming years. These discussions were followed by a visit to the Olkiluoto EPR and the Onkalo geological disposal project. Japan Ł ӆׇĴŁķ Ӈׇ ĸŃŇĸŀĵĸŅ ӅӃӄӌ , a delegation from the NRA (Japanese Safety Regulator) visited ASN headquarters for discussions on ³z ȒȸǕƏȇǣɀƺɀ ǣɎɀ ˡȸɀɎ ɎȸƏȇɀƫȒɖȇƳƏȸɵ ɀƺȅǣȇƏȸ A regional transboundary seminar bringing together the nuclear safety and radiation protection authorities from Germany, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and ³ɯǣɎɿƺȸǼƏȇƳً ɯƏɀ ǝƺǼƳ Ȓȇ ژזא ƏȇƳ ژחא zȒɮƺȅƫƺȸ א ׎׏ ژח ǣȇ the ASN premises in Montrouge. ASN was the initiator of this seminar, after observing that a number of the topics covered during the various bilateral meetings and common to the five countries would benefit from broader and more in-depth discussions in order to share experiences and best practices. The five delegations discussed their views of the issues, their experience and their practices in terms of cross inspections, stakeholder consultations, maintaining skills currency within the authorities and, finally, preparedness for emergency situations in a transboundary context. Four successive workshops thus enabled prospects for collaboration between the countries to be identified, so that each one could aim to adopt the best practices, adapting them to its national context, and thus reinforce the consistency of action in parallel with the bilateral exchanges. The participants recognised the value of these exchanges and the benefits of a “regional” format conducive to an enhanced sharing of experience. They confirmed their desire to take these exchanges further and restated the importance of maintaining a high level of dialogue, both bilateral and multilateral, with the format being adapted to the particular topic to be covered. 194 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2019 ׎ ٲ ה INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS