ASN Report 2020

including by presenting its views on the regulatory changes that may be needed, in particular on the occasion of the association’s annual meeting. 4.5.2 Bilateral relations with ASN’s foreign counterparts ASN devotes considerable efforts to maintaining close ties with the competent authorities of the countries concerned by the numerous shipments to and from France. Prominent among these are Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Germany In 2016, the French and German Authorities decided to meet regularly to discuss a range of technical subjects. ASN also participates in the Franco-German technical committees concerning the programme for returning German spent nuclear fuel reprocessing waste. A new packaging is currently being designed in Germany for the transport of compacted waste. The German safety regulator thus informs ASN of the progress being made in the technical review of the approval application. Once issued, the approval certificate will have to be validated by ASN so that the package model can be used in France. Belgium For the nuclear production of electricity in Belgium, French- designed packagings are sometimes used for shipments necessary for the “fuel cycle”. In order to harmonise practices and achieve progress in the safety of these shipments, ASN and the competent Belgian Authority (Belgian Federal Nuclear Regulating Agency – AFCN) regularly exchange know-how and experience. The exchanges more particularly concern the review of safety cases for French package models for which approval is validated in Belgium and inspection practices in each country. Events related to the transport of ore from third-party countries Recurring deviations have been observed in “fuel cycle” natural uranium ore transports frommines in Central Asia, Africa and Australia: on their arrival in France, contamination spots exceeding the regulation limits and damaged drums are discovered. ASN found a slight improvement in the situation by comparison with 2017 but, together with the transport stakeholders and ordering parties, is continuing to work to improve the transport conditions for these packages. Online notification of transport events The publication of the Order of 11 December 2018 modifying the Order of 29 May 2009 concerning the transport of dangerous goods by road, makes the use of ASN’s online services portal mandatory from 1st January 2019, for the notification of significant events concerning the transport of radioactive substances on the public domain. With a view to harmonisation, the online services portal was also extended in mi‑2019 to the notification of on-site transport events concerning dangerous goods within Basic Nuclear Installations (BNIs). Notification of an event as stipulated in ASN Guide No. 31 does not replace the obligation to alert ASN immediately in the case of an emergency situation. GRAPH 6 Breakdown of notified transport events by content and mode of transport in 2020 0 5 10 15 20 25 UF 6 Uranyl nitrate Fresh fuel Contaminated materials and tools Radionuclides for the non-nuclear industry Medical radionuclides Empty packaging Solid wastes and effluents Uranium compounds Spent fuel Road transport Sea transport Rail transport Air transport 282 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 09 – TRANSPORT OF RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES