5.2 ASN assistance actions in a bilateral framework ASN may be required to respond to assistance requests via bilateral actions with the safety regulator of the country concerned, in addition to the instruments, both European (EINS) and international (RCF). The purpose of this cooperation is to enable the beneficiary countries to acquire the safety culture and transparency that are essential for a national system of nuclear safety and radiation protection oversight. Nuclear safety oversight must be based on national competence and ASN consequently only provides support for the establishment of an adequate national framework, ensuring that the national safety regulator it advises retains full responsibility for its oversight of the nuclear facilities. It pays particular attention to countries acquiring technologies of which it has experience in France. ASN considers that developing an appropriate safety infrastructure requires a minimum of fifteen years before a nuclear power reactor can begin to operate in good conditions. For these countries, the goal is to set up a legislative framework and an independent and competent safety regulator with the financial and human resources it needs to perform its duties and to develop skills in terms of safety, safety culture and oversight as well as in radiological emergency management. In 2021, ASN continued its mission under the EINS project it is coordinating, on behalf of the Turkish safety regulator (Nükleer Düzenleme Kurumu –NDK). 5.3 Personnel secondments between ASN and its foreign counterparts Understanding the working and practices of foreign nuclear safety and radiation protection regulators enables pertinent lessons to be learned for the working of ASN and the training of its personnel. One of the means used to achieve this goal is personnel secondments, generally for a period of one to three years. This immersion in the activities and working of the counterpart safety regulator is a unique means of assimilating subjects of common interest. Between January 2018 and August 2021, an ASN staff member was thus seconded to the NRC for a period of three and a half years. In addition, since 1 January 2019, an ASN senior inspector has been seconded to the British regulator (ONR). 6 // Outlook In an international context made difficult by the Covid-19 pandemic, ASN succeeded in 2021 in maintaining regular exchanges with most of its counterparts, within bilateral and multilateral bodies. In addition, the preparation of important work (safety conventions coordinated by the IAEA, thematic peer reviews under the 2014 safety Directive) took place with no major difficulty. In 2022, and depending on how the health situation develops, ASN will make efforts to maintain these exchanges, in priority with countries with whom bilateral relations were made more difficult owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, such as South Africa, Korea, China, Finland or the United Kingdom. 2022 will be a year rich in international events. ASN will be extensively involved, notably through WENRA and ENSREG, in preparing the thematic peer review on the protection of nuclear facilities against fire risks, the specifications and conditions of which will have been finalised in the Spring of 2022. In addition, the joint convention review meeting, scheduled for early Summer, and the preparation of the nuclear safety convention review meeting scheduled for March 2023, will also be important international events extensively mobilising ASN. ASN will continue to identify the subjects it continues to be priorities for discussions with its counterparts, be they strategic, technical or organisational, in order to share thoughts, experiences and best practices. ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2021 201 06 – INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 08 07 13 04 10 06 12 14 03 09 05 11 02 01 AP
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