ASN Report 2020

In 2020, ASN carried out 293 inspections in the Auvergne- Rhône‑Alpes region, comprising96 inspections intheBugey, Saint‑Alban, Cruas‑Meysse and Tricastin Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs), 81 inspections in plants and installations undergoing decommissioning, 101 inspections in small- scale nuclear activities and 15 inspections in the radioactive substance transport sector. ASN also carried out 32 days of labour inspections in the four NPPs and on the Creys-Malville site. In the exercise of its oversight duties, ASN drew up three violation reports and gave one nuclear activity manager formal notice to comply with the regulations. In 2020, ASN was notified of 30 significant events rated level 1 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES scale), of which 28 occurred in BNIs and 2 in small-scale nuclear activities. Furthermore, one event was rated level 2 on the ASN-SFRO scale (scale specific to radiationprotection events affecting patients undergoing a radiotherapy procedure). BUGEY SITE The Bugey industrial site comprises various facilities, including the Bugey NPP operated by EDF on the municipality of Saint-Vulbas in the Ain département , 35 kilometres (km) east of Lyon. It comprises four Pressurised Water Reactors (PWR), each of 900 Megawatts electric (MWe), commissioned in 1978 and 1979. Reactors 2 and 3 constitute BNI 78 and reactors 4 and 5 constitute BNI 89. The site also accommodates Bugey 1, a graphite-moderated Gas-Cooled Reactor (GCR) commissioned in 1972, shut down in 1994 and currently undergoing decommissioning, the Activated waste packaging and interim storage facility (Iceda) and the Inter-Regional Warehouse (MIR) for fuel storage. Lastly, the site accommodates one of the regional bases of the FARN, the special Nuclear Rapid Intervention Force created by EDF in 2011 further to the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident in Japan. Its role is to intervene in pre-accident or accident situations, on any NPP in France, by providing additional human resources and emergency equipment. Bugey nuclear power plant Reactors 2, 3, 4 and 5 in operation ASN considers that the overall performance of the Bugey NPP with regard to nuclear safety, radiation protection and environmental protection is in line with ASN’s general assessment of EDF plant performance. The NPP has satisfactorily controlled the impact of the sanitary crisis due to the Covid‑19 pandemic, particularly with regard to monitoring and operation of the facilities, maintaining the emergency organisation and waste management. ASN considers that the nuclear safety performance of the NPP remains contrasted, despite being in line with the general assessment of the EDF plants. The weaknesses observed in 2019 concerning compliance with the operating technical specif ications, the implementation of error-reduction practices and the configuring of the systems persisted in 2020. Furthermore, lack of rigour was observed regardingmonitoring in the control room and the identification and processing of deviations. On the other hand, ASN notes improvements in the monitoring of service providers, application of the operating and maintenance baseline requirements, and control of integrity of the first barrier which consists of the fuel assembly cladding. The four reactors of the Bugey NPP were shut down in 2020 for scheduled maintenance and partial refuelling. Quite apart from the health crisis situation, ASN considers that further progress is necessary in the control of outages, with improvements required notably in the management of conformity deviations, the scheduling and preparation of maintenance activities and activity quality assurance. The Bugey NPP reactors 2 and 4 were shut down in January and November 2020 respectively for their fourth ten-yearly outage, which is a part of the fourth periodic safety review. With regard to radiation protection, ASN considers that the Bugey NPP’s performance is in line with the general assessment of the EDF plants. Implementation of the radiation The Lyon division regulates nuclear safety, radiation protection and the transport of radioactive substances in the 12 départements of the Auvergne‑Rhône‑Alpes region. Auvergne‑Rhône‑Alpes Region 40 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 REGIONAL OVERVIEWOF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION