Abstracts ASN Report 2019

Knowledge of the regulations applicable to the transport of radioactive substances seems to be sub-standard in the medical sector in particular, where the procedures adopted by some hospitals or nuclear medicine units for package shipment and reception need to be tightened. Their quality management system has not yet been formally set out and deployed, more specifically with regard to the responsibilities of each member of staff involved in receiving and dispatching packages. More generally, in transport operations for small-scale nuclear activities, the radiological protection programmes and the safety protocols have not yet been systematically defined. ASN also found that checks on vehicles and packages prior to shipment could be improved. The inspections concerning the transport of gamma ray projectors regularly reveal inappropriate stowage or tie-down. In the BNI sector, ASN considers that the consignors must improve how they demonstrate that the content actually loaded into the packaging complies with the specifications of the approval certificates and the corresponding safety cases, including if this demonstration is provided by a third-party. In this latter case, the consignor’s responsibilities require that it verify that this demonstration is appropriate, and that it monitor the third- party company in accordance with the usual methods of a quality assurance system. As BNI licensees are increasingly using contractors to prepare and ship packages of radioactive substances, ASN is paying particularly close attention to the organisation put into place to monitor these contractors. ļŁĴĿĿŌё ŊļŇĻ ŅĸĺĴŅķ Ňł łŁіņļŇĸ ŇŅĴŁņŃłŅŇņ ŊļŇĻļŁ ņё considers that the licensees must remain vigilant to the application of package stowage and tie-down rules. ג ِ א ِ …ד ɮƺȸɀǣǕǝɎ Ȓǔ ȵȸƺȵƏȸƺƳȇƺɀɀ ǔȒȸ ƺȅƺȸǕƺȇƬɵ ȅƏȇƏǕƺȅƺȇɎ In order to reinforce the preparedness of the transport operators (mainly consignors and carriers) for emergency management, ŃňĵĿļņĻĸķ ňļķĸ łє ӄӊׇļŁ ĸĶĸŀĵĸŅ ӅӃӄӇׇłŁ ŇĻĸ ĶłŁŇĸŁŇ of accident and incident management plans concerning the transport of radioactive substances. This guide recommends the production of plans to prepare for emergency management and stipulates their minimum contents. Ļļņ ŇłŃļĶ ļņ ŅĸʼnļĸŊĸķ ķňŅļŁĺ ļŁņŃĸĶŇļłŁņє łŅ ĸŋĴŀŃĿĸё ļŁ ӅӃӄӌё ĴŁ ļŁņŃĸĶŇļłŁ łŁ ŃŅĸŃĴŅĸķŁĸņņ ĹłŅ ĸŀĸŅĺĸŁĶŌ ņļŇňĴŇļłŁņ was held at the carrier Précotrans. The inspectors paid particular attention to the organisation in place, the material and human resources available and personnel training. They concluded that preparedness for emergency situations was satisfactory, even though the radioactive substances transport emergency plan had yet to be formally set out. ג ِ א ِ ה ȇƏǼɵɀǣɀ Ȓǔ ɎȸƏȇɀȵȒȸɎ ƺɮƺȇɎɀ The safety of the transport of radioactive substances relies, among other things, on the existence of an effective system for detecting and processing anomalies, deviations or, more generally, any abnormal events that could occur. Therefore, once detected, these events must be analysed in order to: Ҋ prevent identical or similar events from happening again by taking appropriate corrective and preventive measures; Ҋ prevent a more serious situation from developing by analysing the potential consequences of events which could be precursors of more serious events; Ҋ identify the best practices to be promoted in order to improve transport safety. The regulations also requires on-line notification to ASN of the most significant events so that ASN can ensure that the detection system, the analysis approach and the integration of operating experience feedback are effective. This also provides ASN with an overview of events so that the sharing of operating experience feedback can be encouraged between the various stakeholders –including internationally– and so that ASN can consider potential changes to the provisions governing the transport of radioactive substances. Any significant event concerning the transport of radioactive substances, whether the consequences are real or potential, must be the subject of ASN notification within four working days, as ņŇļŃňĿĴŇĸķ ļŁ ļŇņ ĸʼnĸŁŇ ŁłŇļĹļĶĴŇļłŁ ňļķĸ łє ӆӄׇĴŁķ Ĵņ ŅĸńňļŅĸķ ĵŌ ŅŇļĶĿĸ ӊׇłĹ ŇĻĸ ŅķĸŅ łĹ Ӆӌׇ ĴŌ ӅӃӃӌё ĴŀĸŁķĸķё łŁ ŇĻĸ ŇŅĴŁņŃłŅŇ of dangerous goods by road. This guide was entirely revised in ӅӃӄӊׇĴŁķ ļņ ĴʼnĴļĿĴĵĿĸ łŁ asn.fr . After notification, a detailed event report must be sent to ASN within two months. • 0ɮƺȇɎɀ ȇȒɎǣǔǣƺƳ ǣȇ א ׎׏ ח Ł ӅӃӄӌё ļŁ ŇĻĸ ĹļĸĿķ łĹ ŅĴķļłĴĶŇļʼnĸ ņňĵņŇĴŁĶĸņ ŇŅĴŁņŃłŅŇё ŊĴņ ŁłŇļĹļĸķ łĹ Ӌӈ ĸʼnĸŁŇņ ŅĴŇĸķ ĿĸʼnĸĿ ӃׇłŁ ŇĻĸ ŁŇĸŅŁĴŇļłŁĴĿ ňĶĿĸĴŅ ĴŁķ ĴķļłĿłĺļĶĴĿ ʼnĸŁŇ ĶĴĿĸ Ҏ ҏ ĴŁķ ӇׇĸʼnĸŁŇņ ŅĴŇĸķ ĿĸʼnĸĿ ӄє Ļĸņĸ ĹļĺňŅĸņ ĴŅĸ ņŇĴĵĿĸ ŊļŇĻ ŅĸņŃĸĶŇ Ňł ӅӃӄӋє ŅĴŃĻ ӇׇņĻłŊņ ŇĻĸ trend in the number of significant events notified since 2002. Ł ĴķķļŇļłŁё ŊĴņ ŁłŇļĹļĸķ łĹ ӆӇׇĸʼnĸŁŇņ łĹ ĿĸņņĸŅ ļŀŃłŅŇĴŁĶĸ –Events of Interest for the safety of Transport (EIT). Given that they have no actual or potential consequences, these events are not rated on the INES scale. There is thus no obligation to notify ASN of them, although ASN nonetheless recommends that it be kept periodically informed in order to have an overview of the XȇɀȵƺƬɎǣȒȇ Ȓǔ Ɏǝƺ ȸƺȅȒɮƏǼ Ȓǔ ɀȵƺȇɎ ǔɖƺǼ ǔȸȒȅ Ɏǝƺ !ǣɮƏɖɴ z¨¨ Xȇ hɖȇƺ א ׎׏ ח ً Ɏǝƺ ³z ǣȇɀȵƺƬɎȒȸɀ ɯƺȇɎ ɎȒ Ɏǝƺ !ǣɮƏɖɴ ژ z¨¨ to control the shipment of a package loaded with spent fuel assemblies. They focused more specifically on the site’s radiological protection programme, the analysis of transport events, the activities of the Transport Safety Adviser (CST) and the oversight by EDF of contractors involved in the transport of radioactive substances. They checked the site’s last two shipment files. They also checked compliance with the provisions of the package model approval certificates and the confined environment transport authorisations issued by ASN. They visited the NPP’s rail siding, the buildings in which the transport operations are carried out and the stabling area where the rail wagons are loaded. Following this examination, the inspectors concluded ɎǝƏɎ Ɏǝƺ ȒȸǕƏȇǣɀƏɎǣȒȇ ȵɖɎ ǣȇɎȒ ȵǼƏƬƺ ƫɵ Ɏǝƺ !ǣɮƏɖɴ ژ z¨¨ ɎȒ ژ ƺȇɀɖȸƺ Ɏǝƺ ɀƏǔƺɎɵ Ȓǔ Ɏǝƺ ɀȵƺȇɎ ǔɖƺǼ ɀǝǣȵȅƺȇɎ ȒȵƺȸƏɎǣȒȇɀ is on the whole satisfactory. They found that the !ǣɮƏɖɴ ژ z¨¨ ǝƏƳ ƺǔǔƺƬɎǣɮƺǼɵ ǣȅȵǼƺȅƺȇɎƺƳ Ɏǝƺ ƏƬɎǣȒȇɀ decided on for the EDF NPP fleet in order to prevent the risk of contamination of the wagon recovery pans. Nonetheless, improvements are still needed to take greater account of radiation protection in transport activities, especially to ensure appropriate demarcation and signage around the wagons stabling area during spent fuel package preparation operations. 270 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2019 ׎ ٲ ח TRANSPORT OF RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES