Abstracts ASN Report 2019

ASN regularly checks the processes to draft and validate the incident or accident operating rules, their pertinence and how they are implemented. To do this, ASN can place the facility’s control teams in a simulated situation to check how they apply the above-mentioned rules and manage the specific equipment used in accident operating situations. It in particular ensures correct application of the ĸŀĸŅĺĸŁĶŌ ŇĸĴŀņ łŅĺĴŁļņĴŇļłŁ ŃŅļŁĶļŃĿĸņ ķĸņĶŅļĵĸķ ļŁ ŇĻĸ baseline requirements validated by ASN. This organisation more particularly requires that each emergency team member take part in an exercise at least once a year. Operation in a severe accident situation łĿĿłŊļŁĺ ĴŁ ļŁĶļķĸŁŇ łŅ ĴĶĶļķĸŁŇё ļĹ ŇĻĸ ņĴĹĸŇŌ ĹňŁĶŇļłŁņ ҎĶłŁŇŅłĿ of reactivity, cooling and containment) are not guaranteed owing to a series of failures, the situation is liable to develop into a severe accident following severe fuel damage. When faced with such unlikely situations, the installation control strategies place emphasis on preserving the containment in order to minimise releases into the environment. The implementation of these strategies requires the participation of the local and national emergency teams. These teams draw on the On-site Emergency Plan (PUI) plus the severe accident intervention guide and the emergency teams action guides in particular. ŃĸŅļłķļĶĴĿĿŌ ĸŋĴŀļŁĸņ ŇĻĸ ņŇŅĴŇĸĺļĸņ ķĸʼnĸĿłŃĸķ ĵŌ ļŁ these documents, in particular for the reactor periodic safety reviews. א ِ ג ِ א ɀɀƺɀɀȅƺȇɎ Ȓǔ ȸƺƏƬɎȒȸ ȒȵƺȸƏɎǣȒȇɀ • zȒȸȅƏǼ ƏȇƳ ƳƺǕȸƏƳƺƳ ȒȵƺȸƏɎǣȒȇ ASN observes that the reactor operating teams are fully familiar with and proficient in the operating rules and instructions for nuclear power reactors. However, the ASN inspections in ӅӃӄӌׇŅĸʼnĸĴĿĸķ ŇĻĴŇ ŇĻĸ ĶĻĸĶľņ łŁ ŇĻĸ ĴĶŇļʼnļŇļĸņ ŃĸŅĹłŅŀĸķ ĵŌ ŇĻĸ operators need to be reinforced. This trend is confirmed by the analysis of the root causes of the significant events, revealing a lack of monitoring of the activities carried out in the control room by the operating team: in several NPPs the average time taken to detect a breach of the operational management rules is too long. It would appear that the sites which experienced the greatest difficulty in normal and degraded operation are those which had to manage a ten-yearly outage. The significant events for which the analysis reveals an operating error sometimes represent more than one third of the significant events reported by a site. Unauthorised excursion from the operating ranges remain few in number and are correctly managed, even if there are nonetheless early warning signs. ŁłŇĸņ ŇĻĴŇ łŁ ĶĸŅŇĴļŁ ņļŇĸņё ļŀŃĿĸŀĸŁŇņ ĴĶŇļłŁ ŃĿĴŁņ Ňł reinforce rigorousness and process safety difficulties identified. ASN considers that the effectiveness of these plans has yet to be confirmed. It will focus a significant share of its inspections on the sites concerned. it will thus pay particular attention to ѡņ ĴĵļĿļŇŌ Ňł ĻĴŁķĿĸ ŀĴĽłŅ ĶĻĴŁĺĸņ Ňł ŇĻĸ ĹĴĶļĿļŇļĸņ ĴŁķ ŇĻĸļŅ operating procedures, notably during the ten-yearly outages of ŇĻĸ ŅĸĴĶŇłŅņє Ļĸ ņŇĸŃņ ŇĴľĸŁ ĵŌ Ňł ŃŅĸʼnĸŁŇ ļŁĴŃŃŅłŃŅļĴŇĸ actions and decisions on the part of the operating team and reinforce rigour in application of the operating rules and alarm management, will also be the focus of increased vigilance. The majority of the sites need to improve the scheduling and performance of the periodic tests and the analysis of their results. A lack of rigour in the preparation for the periodic tests, and deficiencies in error reduction in the work to be done, sometimes leads to the performance frequencies being exceeded and to inadequate conditions for performance of the tests. ASN’s inspectors on several occasions found incorrect conclusions regarding equipment availability following periodic testing. Moreover, ASN also observes problems in the operational documentation which is sometimes inappropriate to the performance of the activities, for example owing to its ʼnłĿňŀĸ łŅ Ňł ĸŅŅłŅņ ļŁ ŇĻĸ ŇĸņŇ ŃŅłĶĸķňŅĸņє ļŁĴĿĿŌё ķĸņŃļŇĸ efforts in these areas, persistent training or skills faults are the cause of significant events in the performance of periodic tests. During its inspections in 2020, ASN will focus particular ĴŇŇĸŁŇļłŁ łŁ ŇĻĸ ņŇĸŃņ ŇĴľĸŁ ĵŌ Ňł ĸŁņňŅĸ ŇĻĸ ŅļĺłňŅ needed for performance of the periodic tests with regard to the material, documentary and human aspects. • …ȵƺȸƏɎǣȒȇ ǣȇ Əȇ ǣȇƬǣƳƺȇɎً ƏƬƬǣƳƺȇɎً Ȓȸ ɀƺɮƺȸƺ ƏƬƬǣƳƺȇɎ ɀǣɎɖƏɎǣȒȇ In the same way as every year, ASN carried out several inspections ļŁ ӅӃӄӌׇłŁ ŇĻĸ łŅĺĴŁļņĴŇļłŁĴĿ ĴŁķ ŇĸĶĻŁļĶĴĿ ĴŅŅĴŁĺĸŀĸŁŇņ ŀĴķĸ ĵŌ Ňł ķĸĴĿ ŊļŇĻ ĴŁ ļŁĶļķĸŁŇ ĴŁķ ĴĶĶļķĸŁŇ ņļŇňĴŇļłŁє Ŋł ŇļĺĻŇĸŁĸķ ļŁņŃĸĶŇļłŁņ ŊĸŅĸ ŁłŇĴĵĿŌ ĶĴŅŅļĸķ łňŇ ļŁ ŇĻĸ Ļłłō and Nogent-sur-Seine NPPs before application of the general operating rules resulting from the second periodic safety review łĹ ŇĻĸ ӄёӇӈӃׇ ĸ ŅĸĴĶŇłŅņ ĴŁķ ŇĻĸ ŇĻļŅķ ŃĸŅļłķļĶ ņĴĹĸŇŌ ŅĸʼnļĸŊ łĹ ŇĻĸ ӄёӆӃӃׇ ĸ ŅĸĴĶŇłŅņ ŅĸņŃĸĶŇļʼnĸĿŌє During these inspections, ASN on the one hand checks the way in which the operating procedures are applied in an incident or accident situation and, on the other, the ability of certain equipment to perform its functions. These inspections almost ĴĿŊĴŌņ ļŁĶĿňķĸ Ĵ ņļŀňĿĴŇļłŁ ļŁʼnłĿʼnļŁĺ ŇĻĸ ŇĸĴŀņє Ł ӅӃӄӌё the familiarity of the field operators with the instructions regarding the actions they are required to carry out was deemed Ňł ĵĸ ņĴŇļņĹĴĶŇłŅŌє łŊĸʼnĸŅё Ĵņ ļŁ ӅӃӄӋё ĹłňŁķ ŇĻĴŇ ĶĸŅŇĴļŁ instructions contained errors, inaccuracies, or even procedures that were impossible to carry out. Although these faults were ļķĸŁŇļĹļĸķ ĵŌ ķňŅļŁĺ ļŇņ ļŁŇĸŅŁĴĿ ĶĻĸĶľņё ŇĻĸŌ ŊĸŅĸ ŁłŇ corrected before application of the documents concerned. These ĹļŁķļŁĺņ ņĻłŊ ŇĻĴŇ ŇĻĸ ņŇĸŃņ ŇĴľĸŁ ĵŌ ļŁ ŅĸņŃłŁņĸ Ňł ŇĻĸ ŅĸńňĸņŇņ ŀĴķĸ ļŁ ӅӃӄӉׇķļķ ŁłŇ ŅĸņňĿŇ ļŁ ŇĻĸ ĴŁŇļĶļŃĴŇĸķ ĸĹĹĸĶŇņє Ļĸ ĶĴňņĸ łĹ ŇĻļņ ņļŇňĴŇļłŁ ļņ ŁłŇĴĵĿŌ Ĵ ņĴŇňŅĴŇļłŁ łĹ ŇĻĸ national engineering teams owing to the workload generated by the periodic safety reviews. ASN increased its oversight of these ĴĶŇļʼnļŇļĸņ ĴŁķё ĴŇ ŇĻĸ ĸŁķ łĹ ӅӃӄӌё ĹłňŁķ ĺŅĸĴŇĸŅ ļŁʼnłĿʼnĸŀĸŁŇ ĵŌ these teams in reactive processing of the deviations affecting the operating rules and instructions. Ł ӅӃӄӌё ķļķ ŁłŇ ĴĶŇļʼnĴŇĸ ĴŁ ŁіņļŇĸ ŀĸŅĺĸŁĶŌ ĿĴŁ Ҏ ҏ on its NPPs. The ASN inspections on the emergency organisation and resources confirmed the findings in previous years, with a correct level of assimilation of the organisation, preparedness and management principles for emergency situations covered by a PUI. ļŁĴĿĿŌё ļŁ ӅӃӅӃё ŊļĿĿ ĶłŁŇļŁňĸ Ňł ĶĻĸĶľ ŇĻĸ ĴŃŃĿļĶĴŇļłŁ łĹ ŇĻĸ ŃŅłʼnļņļłŁņ łĹ ļŇņ ŅĸņłĿňŇļłŁ ӅӃӄӊі іӃӈӌӅׇłĹ ӄӆׇ ňŁĸׇӅӃӄӊ concerning the obligations on BNI licensees in terms of preparedness for and management of emergency situations and the content of the PUI. Work to ensure compliance with the provisions of this resolution is continuing, with deadlines ņŇĴĺĺĸŅĸķ ňŁŇļĿ ӄׇ ĴŁňĴŅŌ ӅӃӅӅє א ِ ג ِ ב xȒȇǣɎȒȸǣȇǕ ȅƏǣȇɎƺȇƏȇƬƺ Ȓǔ Ɏǝƺ ǔƏƬǣǼǣɎǣƺɀ Preventive maintenance is an essential line of defence in maintaining the conformity of a facility with its baseline safety requirements. This is an important topic, checked by ASN during its inspections in the NPPs. 288 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2019 ׏׎ ٲ THE EDF NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS