ASN Report 2020

simulations such as exercises to test the organisation implemented for pollution management can be carried out. 2016‑2021 Micro-pollutants Plan The 2016-2021 Micro-pollutants Plan (3) to preserve the quality of water and biodiversity, presented by the Minister for Ecology in September 2016, aims to protect surface waters, groundwater, biota, sediments and waters intended for human consumption from all molecules liable to pollute the water resources, more particularly those previously identified during campaigns to search for hazardous substances in water. This plan meets the good water quality objectives set by the framework directive on water and contributes to those of the framework strategy directive for the marine environment, by limiting the input of pollutants into the marine environment from water courses. For the NPPs, the campaigns to search for hazardous substances in water concluded that close monitoring of copper and zinc discharges was required. Under the Micro-pollutants Plan, the ASN action initiated in 2017 comprise three parts: ∙ monitor the effective implementation of the action plan proposed by EDF to reduce discharges of copper and zinc (gradual replacement of the brass condenser tubes with stainless steel or titanium tubes); ∙ monitor the discharge trends for these substances; ∙ if necessary revise the individual requirements applicable to NPPs, setting emission limits for these substances. 3. A micro-pollutant can be defined as an undesirable substance detectable in the environment at very low concentrations. Its presence is due, at least in part, to human activity (industrial processes, agricultural practices or day to day activities) and it may, at these very small concentrations, create negative effects on living organisms owing to its toxicity, its persistence and its bioaccumulation. To allow a revision of the emission limits for copper and zinc, among other things, ASN is examining EDF’s requests for modification of the requirements concerning water discharge and intake for the NPPs of Dampierre-en-Burly and Belleville-sur- Loire. The modification application file submitted by the licensee of the Dampierre-en-Burly NPP was the subject of an online public consultation from 15 December 2020 to 15 January 2021. Accounting of BNI discharges The rules for accounting of discharges, both radioactive and chemical, are set in the general regulations by amended ASN resolution 2013-DC-0360 of 16 July 2013 relative to control of the detrimental effects and the impact of BNIs on health and the environment. These rules were set so as to guarantee that the discharge values accounted by the licensees, notably those taken considered in the impact calculations, will in no case be underestimated. For discharges of radioactive substances, accounting is not based on overall measurements, but on an analysis per radionuclide, introducing the notion of a “reference spectrum”, listing the radionuclides specific to the type of discharge in question. The principles underlying the accounting rules are as follows: ∙ radionuclides for which the measured activity exceeds the decision threshold for the measurement technique are all counted; ∙ the radionuclides of the “reference spectrum” for which the measured activity is below the decision threshold (see box page 164) are considered to be at the decision threshold level. For discharges of chemical substances with an emission limit value set by an ASN binding requirement, when the concentration values measured are below the quantification limit, the licensee is required by convention to declare a value equal to half the quantification limit concerned. Monitoring discharges in the medical sector Pursuant to ASN resolution 2008-DC-0095 of 29 January 2008, radioactivity measurements are taken on the effluents coming from the places that produce them. In hospitals that have a nuclear medicine department, these measurements chiefly concern iodine-131 and technetium-99m. In view of the difficulties encountered in putting in place the permits to discharge radionuclides into the public sewage networks, as provided for by the Public Health Code, ASN has created a working group involving administrations, “producers” (nuclear physicians, researchers) and sanitation professionals. The report from this working group formulating recommendations to improve the efficiency of the regulations was presented in October 2016 to the Advisory Committee for Radiation Protection (GPRADE), for industrial and research applications of ionising radiation and the environment. ASN consulted the stakeholders in 2017 on this subject. The report from the working group and a circular letter intended for the professionals concerned were published in the ASN website on 14 June 2019. In the small-scale industrial nuclear sector, few plants discharge effluents apart from the cyclotrons (see chapter 8). The discharge permits stipulate requirements for the discharges and their monitoring, which are subject to particular scrutiny during inspections. Sealing of the samples taken during an unannounced ASN inspection – January 2021 162 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 03 – REGULATION OF NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES AND EXPOSURE TO IONISING RADIATION