ASN Report 2020

Commissioned in 1999, the STAR facility is an extension of the LECA laboratory, designed for the stabilisation and reconditioning of spent fuel. The CEA submitted the STAR periodic safety review report to ASN in February 2018 and it is currently being examined. Further to the inspections conducted in 2020, ASN remains vigilant regarding due consideration of the social, organis­ ational and human factors in the operation of the facility and the meeting of commitments made further to the inspections and the analyses of significant events. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of BNI 55 in 2020 is on the whole satisfactory. Solid radioactive waste storage area – CEA Centre BNI 56, declared in January 1968 for the disposal of waste, is used for storing legacy solid radioactive waste f rom the Cadarache centre. It comprises three pools, six pits, five trenches and hangars, which contain in particular ILW-LL from the operation or decommissioning of CEA installations. BNI 56 is one of the priorities identified by the CEA in its new decommissioning and waste management strategy. Apart from during the first lockdown period, the operations to retrieve the waste contained in the recent pits and to empty the hangars continued. In the preparatory phase for retrieval of the “intermediate level” waste, the CEA is continuing to characterise the composition of the waste, an operation for which an authorisation request has been submitted to ASN and is currently being examined. With regard to environmental protection, the last periodic safety review of the facility revealed the necessity to improve the monitoring of the groundwater tables beneath the facility. The CEA started installing new piezometers for this purpose in 2020. An action plan for improving stormwater management on the facility is currently being deployed to ensure compliance with ASN resolution 2013-DC-0360 of 16 July 2013. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of BNI 56 is satisfactory. More specif ically, improvements have been observed in the tracking of the commitments made to ASN. Phébus research reactor – CEA Centre The Phébus reactor (BNI 92) is an experimental pool-type reactor with a power rating of 38 Megawatts thermal (MWth) which functioned from 1978 to 2007. Phébus was designed for the study of serious accidents affecting light water reactors and for def ining operating procedures to prevent core melt-down or to mitigate its consequences. The licensee submitted its periodic safety review f ile in October 2017 and its decommissioning file in February 2018. These two files are currently being examined. The decommissioning preparation operations continued in 2020, notably with the removal of unused sources and operations to characterise certain items of equipment further to completion of removal of irradiated fuel from the reactor in 2019. The removal of non-irradiated materials however, initially planned for 2020, has been pushed back to 2021 due to the health crisis. ASN considers that the nuclear safety and radiation protection of the Phébus installation in 2020 is satisfactory. Laboratory for research and experimental fabrication of advanced nuclear fuels (Lefca) – CEA Centre Commissioned in 1983, Lefca (BNI 123) was a laboratory tasked with conducting studies on plutonium, uranium, actinides and their compounds with the aim of under­ standing the behaviour of these materials in the reactor and in the various stages of the fuel cycle. In 2018, in preparation for the stopping of its activities, Lefca finalised the transfer of part of its research and development equipment to the Atalante laboratories (BNI 148) at Marcoule. The CEA submitted the f inal shutdown declaration for the facility in April 2019. The decommissioning f ile should thus be submitted in 2021. In accordance with ASN resolution 2017-DC-0597 of 11 July 2017, the CEA submitted an update of the facility’s impact study to ASN at the beginning of 2020. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of the facility in 2020 is on the whole satisfactory. Monitoring of outside contractors and of the fire load has been improved further to the inspections conducted in these areas in 2019. Chicade laboratory – CEA Centre Since 1993, the Chicade facility (BNI 156) has been conducting research and development work on low and intermediate-level objects and waste, chiefly involving: • the destructive and non-destructive characterisation of radioactive objects, waste sample packages and irradiating objects; • the development and qualif ication of nuclear measure­ ment systems; • the development and implementation of chemical and radiochemical analysis methods; • the expert assessment and inspection of waste packages packaged by the waste producers. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of Chicade is on the whole satisfactory. With regard to environmental protection, the CEA must undertake to submit a request to modify the facility’s creation decree to take into account gaseous discharges of tritium, not provided for in its baseline requirements. 96 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 REGIONAL OVERVIEWOF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION