communicate the information requested by a citizen. The thresholds are defined as being those “above which, in application of the international conventions and regulations governing the transport of dangerous goods, of the Code of Transport and of their implementing texts, the transport of radioactive substances is subject to the issuance –by ASN or by a foreign Authority competent in the field of radioactive substance transport– of an approval of the transport package design or a shipment approval, including under special arrangement”. Any citizen may therefore ask the persons in charge of transport for information on the risks presented by the transport operations referred to in the Environment Code. On asn.fr, ASN has also published an information file presenting the transport of radioactive substances. 4.5 Participation in international relations in the transport sector International regulations are drafted and implemented as a result of fruitful exchanges between countries. ASN incorporates these exchanges into a process of continuous improvement in the level of safety of radioactive substance transports, and encourages exchanges with its counterparts in other States. 4.5.1 Work of the European Association of Competent Authorities on transport The European Association of Competent Authorities on the Transport of Radioactive Material (EACA) was created in December 2008. Its purpose is to promote the harmonisation of practices in the regulation of the safety of transport of radioactive substances, and to encourage exchanges and experience feedback between the various Authorities. France, which initiated the creation of this association, plays an active part in its work, including by presenting its views on the regulatory changes that may be needed, in particular on the occasion of the association’s annual meeting. 4.5.2 Bilateral relations with ASN’s foreign counterparts ASN devotes considerable efforts to maintaining close ties with the competent authorities of the countries concerned by the numerous shipments to and from France. Prominent among these are Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. EVENTS RELATED TO THE TRANSPORT OF ORE FROM THIRD-PARTY COUNTRIES Recurring deviations have been observed in “fuel cycle” natural uranium ore transports frommines in Central Asia, Africa and Australia: on their arrival in France, contamination spots exceeding the regulation limits and damaged drums are discovered. ASN has observed a slight improvement in the situation over the past four years, but continues to work to improve the transport conditions of these packages, together with the transport stakeholders and the ordering parties. INTERNATIONAL CROSS-INSPECTION OF RIVER TRANSPORT OF THE UPPER PARTS OF THE USED STEAM GENERATORS FROM THE FESSENHEIM NPP These six items were taken by road, then river and sea, to the Cyclife plant in Sweden, for reprocessing and recycling. They crossed France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, before arriving in Sweden. Before the upper parts of the Steam Generators (SGs) left France, three ASN inspectors, one inspector from the Belgian Authority, one inspector from the Swiss Authority and two inspectors from the Dutch Authority inspected their transhipment to a barge in the port of Neuf-Brisach, on 24 and 25 November 2021, prior to river transport along the Rhine. The German inspectors were unable to join the inspection owing to the health measures in force in their country. Two members of the HFDS department of the Ministry for Ecological Transition were present as observers, as part of the HFDS mandate regarding protection against malicious acts. In particular, the inspectors checked that the packages complied with the dose rate limits required by the surface contaminated objects radioactive materials transport regulations (SCO-I). The upper parts of the SGs are concerned by these regulations owing to their low level of surface contamination. The inspectors checked that the cabin of the crane operator loading the upper parts of the SGs on the barge was not exposed to radiation from the packages. They also boarded the barge and its push tug to examine the on-board documents, the measures taken to ensure the radiological monitoring of the personnel on-board and the conformity of the navigation systems with the river transport regulations. They checked that the personnel had in fact been trained in the safety and radiation protection of transports and their knowledge of the required response to any incident. The inspection team found no deviations from the regulations and considered that the safety of the river transport was satisfactory. This was the first time radioactive substances had been transported by river in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. 276 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2021 09 – TRANSPORT OF RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES
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