ASN Report 2020

THE INDUSTRIAL AND RESEARCH FACILITIES High flux reactor of the Laue‑Langevin Institute The Laue-Langevin Institute (ILL), an international research organisation, accommodates a 58 Megawatts thermal (MWth) heavy-water High-Flux Neutron Reactor (RHF) which produces high-intensity thermal neutron beams for fundamental research, particularly in the areas of solid-state physics, neutron physics and molecular biology. The RHF constitutes BNI 67 which accommodates the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), an interna- tional research laboratory. Employing some 500 persons, this BNI occupies a surface area of 12 hectares situated between the rivers Isère and Drac, just upstream of their confluence, near the CEA Grenoble centre. Through its inspection activities in 2020, ASN considers that the safety of the RHF is managed satisfactorily and that the integrated management system is correctly applied. Several inspection actions in 2020 targeted areas in which shortcomings had been detected in the preceding years. ASN has noted improvements in the management of waste and modif ications, and in quality at the environmental radioactivity measurements laboratory. The ILL had established an ambitious action plan in 2018 to control fire-related risks. ASN observed that this plan was progressing but that several large-scale works were still unfinished. Attention shall continue to be focused on this area in the next few years. ASN continued its examination of the periodic safety review report in 2020 and will be attentive to the various action plans put in place by the ILL in this context. Ionisos irradiator The company Ionisos operates an industrial irradiator in Dagneux, situated in the Ain département . This irradiator, which constitutes BNI 68, uses the radiation from cobalt-60 sources for purposes such as sterilising medical equipment (syringes, dressings, prosthesis) and polymerising plastic materials. The level of safety of the facility was found to be satisfactory in 2020. ASN considers that the licensee must continue the foundation work initiated in 2019 aiming to better define the Components Important to the Protection (PIC) of the interests of the facility and more rigorous application of their requirements defined in the periodic inspection and test procedures. In a letter dated 25 May 2020 the licensee applied for an authorisation to recover sludge from pool D1 (operated until November 1996). This file is currently being examined by ASN. CERN accelerators and research centre Following the signing of an international agreement between France, Switzerland and the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) on 15 November 2010, ASN and the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (OFSP) – the Swiss radiation protection oversight body – are contributing to the verification of the safety and radiation protection require- ments applied by CERN. The joint actions concern transport, waste and radiation protection. Two joint visits by the Swiss and French Authorities took place in 2020 on the theme of following up the previous joint visits and on the security of sources. These visits revealed satisfactory practices. During the spring 2020 lockdown on account of the health crisis, the reactor was placed in safe condition (reactor shut down, fuel unloaded). The ILL maintained only its monitoring and servicing activities. The activities relating to the works and experiments were suspended. THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 48 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 REGIONAL OVERVIEWOF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION