ASN Report 2020

The recurrence of certain events and their potential seriousness conf irm that the licensee must still make substantial improvements in this area. As regards environmental protection, ASN notes that the licensee took appropriate corrective measures as a follow-up to the various findings made during the tightened inspection of 2019. Improvements are still required in the monitoring of the service providers performing activities relating to environmental monitoring. With regard to labour inspection, ASN considers that the frequent meetings organised in 2020 during the Covid‑19 pandemic allowed the development of a management strategy adapted to the specific prevention measures within the site. Nevertheless, improvements are still required in the overall organisation of prevention, particularly concerning situations with a risk of falling f rom height, and the management of the prevention plans. Paluel nuclear power plant The Paluel NPP operated by EDF in the municipality of Paluel in the Seine‑Maritime département , 30 km south‑west of Dieppe, comprises four 1,300 MWe pressurised water reactors commissioned between 1984 and 1986. Reactors 1, 2, 3 and 4 constitute BNIs 103, 104, 114 and 115 respectively. The site accommodates one of the regional bases of the Nuclear Rapid Intervention Force (FARN), the special emergency response force created by EDF in 2011 following the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident. Its role is to intervene in pre-accident or accident situations, on any nuclear power plant in France, by providing additional human resources and emergency equipment. ASN considers that the site’s nuclear safety and radiation protection performance is on the whole in line with the general assessment of the EDF plants. ASN observes progress in environmental protection, where the site’s performance stands out positively with respect to the general assessment of the EDF plants. With regard to operation and reactor operational manage­ ment, ASN considers that the performance is satisfactory. The scheduling of periodic tests, however, must be carried out more rigorously, particularly during reactor outages. Activity preparation and the way the workers embrace the procedures must be improved. ASN takes positive note of the implement­ ation of an action plan in this respect and will be attentive to its implementation. With regard to maintenance, ASN considers that the Paluel NPP’s performance is contrasted. Improvements in service provider monitoring have been noted and must be consolid­ ated, and prof iciency in the safety important equipment requalification activities has also been observed. The licensee must nevertheless remain vigilant in the preparation of maintenance activities. Several safety significant events were caused by insufficient preparation of the operations. One of these events led to the replacement of the rotary drum screen of one of the reactors. With regard to reactor 2, the refuelling outage that should have ended in December 2019 actually ended at the beginning of 2021. The unloading inspections revealed the fact that three fuel assemblies were affected by a sealing fault caused by oxide deposits. In late 2020, ASN authorised EDF to carry out another fuel assembly reloading operation and will remain vigilant regarding compliance with the particular chemical specif ications of the primary system, which are intended to prevent recurrence of this fault. This year again ASN considers that the performance of the NPP with regard to worker radiation protection must be improved. THE INSTALLATIONS AND ACTIVITIES TO REGULATE COMPRISES: Basic Nuclear Installations: • the Nuclear Power Plants operated by EDF, namely Flamanville (2 reactors of 1, 300MWe), Paluel (4 reactors of 1, 300MWe) and Penly (2 reactors of 1, 300MWe), • the EPR Flamanville 3 reactor construction worksite, • the Orano spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant at La Hague, • the Andra Manche repository (CSM), • the National large heavy ion accelerator (Ganil) in Caen; small-scale nuclear activities in the medical sector: • 8 external-beam radiotherapy departments (27 devices), • 1 proton therapy department, • 3 brachytherapy departments, • 12 nuclear medicine departments, • 50 centres using interventional procedures, • 70 computed tomography scanners, • some 2,100 medical and dental radiology devices; small-scale nuclear activities in the veterinary, industrial and research sectors: • about 450 industrial and research centres, including 20 companies with an industrial radiography activity, • 5 particle accelerators, including 1 cyclotron, • 21 laboratories situated mainly in the universities of the region, • 5 companies using gamma ray densitometers, • about 260 veterinary surgeries or clinics practising diagnostic radiology, 1 equine research centre and 1 equine hospital centre; activities associated with the transport of radioactive substances; ASN-approved laboratories and organisations: • 9 head-off ices of laboratories approved for taking environmental radioactivity measurements, • 1 organisation approved for radiation protection controls. p. 206 p. 238 p. 266 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 75 REGIONAL OVERVIEWOF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION NORMANDIE