ASN Report 2020

The Paris division regulates radiation protection and the transport of radioactive substances in the 8 départements of the Île‑de‑France region. The Orléans division regulates nuclear safety in the BNIs of this region. Île‑de‑France Region ASN carried out 198 inspections in the Île-de-France region in 2020, of which 56 were in the field of nuclear safety, 105 in small-scale nuclear activities, 12 in the transport of radioactive substances and 25 concerning approved organisations or laboratories. In Île‑de‑France, 2 significant events in the transport area were rated level 1 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES scale). In the small-scale nuclear activities sector, 2 events were rated level 2 on the ASN‑SFRO scale, and 12 were rated level 1 on the INES scale. CEA SACLAY SITE The Saclay research centre, covering an area of 223 hectares, is located about 20 km south-west of Paris, in the Essonne département . About 6,000 people work there. Since 2005, this centre has been primarily devoted to physical sciences, fundamental research and applied research. The applica- tions concern physics, metallurgy, electronics, biology, climatology, simulation, chemistry and the environment. The main aim of applied nuclear research is to optimise the operation and enhance the safety of the French Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). Eight BNIs are located in this centre. Nearby are also located an off ice of the French National Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology (INSTN) – a training institute – and two industrial firms: Technicatome, which designs nuclear reactors for naval propulsion, and CIS bio international, which produces radiopharmaceuticals for nuclear medicine. THE INDUSTRIAL AND RESEARCH FACILITIES Osiris and Isis reactors – CEA Centre The Osiris pool-type reactor has an authorised power of 70 Megawatts thermal (MWth). It was primarily intended for technological irradiation of structural materials and fuels for various power reactor technologies. Another of its functions was to produce radionuclides for medical purposes. Its critical mock-up, the Isis reactor with a power of 700 kilowatts thermal (kWth), was essentially used for training purposes. These two reactors were authorised by a Decree of 8 June 1965 and constitute BNI 40. Given the old design of this facility by comparison with the best available techniques for protection against external hazards and for containment of materials in the event of an accident, the Osiris reactor was shut down at the end of 2015. The Isis reactor was definitively shut down in March 2019. Submitted in late October 2018, the decommissioning file for the installation as a whole received information complements further to ASN’s admissibility analysis. These complements give greater details of the operations planned at each stage of decommissioning and justify more precisely the initial state envisaged at the start of decommissioning and the results of the impact study. Since the shutdown of the Osiris and Isis reactors and pending decommissioning of the facility, the removal of radioactive and hazardous materials and the decommissioning preparation operations are underway, with an organisation adapted to the new state of the facility. The spent fuel removal operations should continue until the first half of 2021. The activities were however slowed down in 2020 by the management of the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to modification work being put on hold. The inspections carried out by ASN in 2020 found the management of the fuel removal operations to be satisfactory. Waste management must be made more robust in order, among other things, to avoid the build-up of waste in the facility. Management of the decommissioning preparation operations remains satisfactory from the technical aspects, but delays are observed, as in the previous years. Management of baseline requirement updating deadlines needs to be improved. Lastly, the significant events reveal in part organisational and human shortcomings in the performance of the periodic inspections andmeeting their deadlines, and in the monitoring 66 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 REGIONAL OVERVIEWOF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION