ASN Report 2020

is proactive in the detection of deviations from its baseline requirements and duly meets the commitments made to ASN. Deterioration of the rail tracks of the external UF 6 cylinder handling gantry cranes obliged the licensee to stop using them since October 2020 and to use other handling equipment to move the cylinders. ASN will check that these gantry cranes are repaired in 2021, as they enhance the safety of the cylinder handling operations. Despite an ambitious action plan deployed in 2019 and 2020, the licensee must continue its search for the causes of the signif icant losses of refrigerant to the atmosphere. Several facility modif ication applications authorised in 2020 will be implemented in 2021 and ASN will keep a close watch to ensure their safe application. Maintenance, effluent treatment and waste packaging facilities The effluent treatment and uranium recovery facility, constituting BNI 138 (formerly Socatri), ensures the treatment of liquid effluents and waste, as well as maintenance operations for various BNIs. ASN considers that the licensee’s efforts to improve the level of operational safety and operating rigour must be continued, particularly regarding prevention of the fire risk. In effect, shortcomings – some of them signif icant – were identif ied during two inspections on this theme in 2020. Decree 2019‑113 of 19 February 2019 authorised substantial modifications to the BNI, notably to create “Trident”, a facility for treating the site’s waste. In 2020, ASN inspected the end of the fitting out work in this facility and its tests. ASN issued the commissioning authorisation and “Trident” gradually began operational service in September 2020. In 2021, ASN will be attentive f irstly to the operation of the Trident facility, and secondly to the continuation of the licensee’s actions to increase operating rigour, including prevention of the fire risk. Tricastin uranium-bearing material storage yards and P35 Following the delicensing of part of the Pierrelatte DBNI by decision of the Prime Minister, the Tricastin uranium-bearing materials storage yards (BNI 178) have been created. This facility groups the uranium storage yards and the new emergency management premises of the Tricastin platform. Following on f rom the Pierrelatte DBNI delicensing by decision of the Prime Minister, the “P35” facility (BNI 179) has been created. This facility comprises ten uranium storage buildings. ASN registered BNI 178 in December 2016 and BNI 179 in January 2018, and made sure, with ASND, of the continuity of oversight of the nuclear safety of these facilities. The overall level of safety of BNIs 178 and 179 operated by Orano was satisfactory in 2020. Progress has been made in the upkeep and cleanliness of the facilities. The licensee still has to process several legacy packages for which control of ageing has not been demonstrated. This point is one of the subjects of the analysis of the periodic safety review concluding report for BNIs 178 and 179 that ASN carried out in 2020. As a general rule, the licensee must improve its compliance with the deadlines for sending ASN replies to follow-up letters and submitting significant event reports, and with the deadlines for commitments made to ASN for the correction of deviations and the updating of its safety baseline requirements. With regard to the emergency management building and equipment, the licensee has improved its internal operating rules aiming to guarantee operation of the emergency centre and the various mobile emergency equipment items. New uranium storage facility project In February 2015, Orano informed ASN that it wanted to create a new BNI on the Tricastin site for the storage of uranium- bearing materials resulting from fuel reprocessing. Orano undertook work to optimise the existing storage facilities on the site in order to push back their saturation date and in November 2017 submitted a creation authorisation application for new storage buildings. In 2018, ASN informed the Minister responsible for nuclear safety, that the content of the creation authorisation application was suff icient for its examination to continue. The public inquiry was held in November 2020. Tricastin analysis laboratory Authorised by Decree 2015-1210 of 30 September 2015 and commissioned in May 2017, the Tricastin analysis laboratory, Atlas, constitutes BNI 176. The facility represents a significant improvement in safety compared with the old laboratories it replaces. Two of the three UF 6 analysis and sampling benches have been functioning since February 2018 following validation of the preliminary test results. The start-up of the last bench, which will f inalise the complete commissioning of the facility, was planned for 2019. However, major difficulties were encountered in sealing the bench in 2019 and 2020, which led ASN to conduct regular inspections on this subject. As a general rule, ASN has noted a significant improvement in the licensee’s deviation management and is now waiting for it to safely finalise the installation operations of the third UF 6 sampling bench and to improve the management of the ventilation system downtimes. Tricastin Operational Hot Unit The Tricastin Operational Hot Unit (BCOT) constitutes BNI 157. Operated by EDF, it was intended for the maintenance and storage of equipment and tooling, fuel elements excluded, originating from contaminated systems and equipment of the nuclear power reactors. In a letter dated 22 June 2017, EDF declared f inal shutdown of the BCOT in June 2020. The storage and maintenance operations shall now be carried out on the Saint-Dizier maintenance base. 46 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 REGIONAL OVERVIEWOF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION