ASN Report 2020

ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of this installation in 2020 is on the whole satisfactory, particularly with regard to the organisation put in place for monitoring and dealing with deviations. Solid Waste Treatment Station – CEA Centre BNI 37 of CEA Cadarache historically comprised the Effluent Treatment Station (STE) and the Waste Treatment Station (STD), grouped in a single installation. As the CEA wishes to ensure continued operation of the STD and proceed with the f inal shutdown of the STE, BNI 37 was divided into two BNIs: 37-A (STD) and 37-B (STE) by ASN resolutions CODEP-DRC-2015-027232 and CODEP-DRC-2015-027225 of 9 July 2015. These records were made further to the Orders of 9 June 2015 defining the perimeters of these two BNIs. At present, the STD is the CEA’s only civil BNI licensed for the packaging of intermediate-level, long-lived (ILW-LL) radioactive waste before it is stored in the Cedra facility (BNI 164) pending transfer to a deep geological repository. This situation makes the STD an indispensable part of the CEA’s decommissioning and waste management strategy. The continued operation of the STD over the long term necessitates renovation work, which has been prescribed by ASN Chairman’s resolution CODEP-CLG-2016-015866 of 18 April 2016. ASN is currently examining the signif icant reinforcement project “Pagode”, which presents particular challenges, especially regarding the civil engineering work. In view of the state of progress of the project, the CEA has announced that it would be unable to meet the prescribed project completion date of 2021. An off icial request will be made to push back this deadline. In the meantime, compensatory measures concerning in particular the limiting of the quantities of radioactive substances in the facility and fire protection, are applied. Concerning the fall of a waste package that occurred in October 2017, the analysis of the root causes, prescribed by ASN, has been carried out by the CEA head office departments. This analysis is monitored by ASN. The points concerned by the compliance notice have been satisfied, as have the majority of the requirements. An inspection carried out in 2020 on “waste management” did however show that the licensee’s safety culture needed to be further improved. The f ile applying for authorisation to retrieve the package from the bottom of the well was submitted in 2020 and is currently being examined. It governs the restarting of activities in the well. The level of safety and radiation protection of the facility, integrating the action plan necessary for improvement of the safety culture and operating rigour, is relatively satisfactory. On 23 September 2020, the CEA submitted the guidance note for the STD’s next periodic safety review, for which the report will be submitted in 2022. The licensee must finalise as soon as possible the actions stemming from the last periodic safety review which were still not completed in 2020. ASN will also remain attentive to ensuring that the analyses presented in the significant event reports and the replies to its follow-up letters are as complete as possible. Active Effluents Treatment Station – CEA Centre The STE (BNI 37-B) has been shut down since 1 January 2014. The CEA has requested the modification of a prescription in order to push back the deadline for submission of the decommissioning f ile for this facility, in view of the com­ plexity of the facility and the time required to characterise the soils and equipment before starting decommissioning. ASN is currently examining this postponement request. The periodic safety review f ile for the STE was submitted to ASN on 30 October 2017 and its examination continued in 2020. Following the discovery of artificial radionuclides outside the identified area, the licensee deployed an action plan – which was the subject of discussions in 2020 – to improve stormwater management. The level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of BNI 37-B is on the whole satisfactory. Plutonium Technology Facility and Chemical Purification Laboratory – CEA Centre The Plutonium Technology Facility (ATPu – BNI 32) produced plutonium-based fuel elements intended for fast neutron or experimental reactors as from 1967, then, from 1987 until 1997, for Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) using MOX fuel. The activities of the Chemical Purification Laboratory (LPC) (BNI 54) were associated with those of the ATPu: physical- chemical verif ications and metallurgical examinations, treatment of effluents and contaminated waste. The two facilities were shut down in 2003 and are currently undergoing decommissioning. The decommissioning schedule has been reviewed further to the health crisis: • for the ATPu: the removal of waste and materials from the facilities was less consequential than forecast, particularly as regards removal of the drums containing alpha-emitting radionuclides from BNI 56; • for the LPC: further to the measurement campaigns and the subsequent obtaining of an authorisation for simplified management of criticality on the worksite at the start of the year, the cryotreatment process removal operations were resumed. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of the facilities in 2020 is on the whole satisfactory. Despite observed improvements in the facility’s waste manage­ ment, further progress is expected, particularly regarding compliance with the decommissioning plan. 94 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 REGIONAL OVERVIEWOF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION