Phénix reactor – CEA centre The Phénix NPP (BNI 71) is a demonstration fast breeder reactor cooled with liquid sodium. This reactor, with an electrical power rating of 250 MWe, was def initively shut down in 2009 and is currently being decommissioned. The major decommissioning phases are regulated by Decree 2016-739 of 2 June 2016. ASN resolution 2016‑DC‑0564 of 7 July 2016 sets the CEA various milestones and decommissioning operations. Removal of the spent fuel and equipment continued in 2021 in accordance with the ASN requirements and the licensee’s commitments made during the facility’s periodic safety review and transition to the decommissioning phase. Uncertainties concerning the future and the processing of the spent fuel from Phénix (see chapter 11) nevertheless remain. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of the Phénix NPP is satisfactory on the whole, particularly regarding the meeting of commitments and the monitoring of outside contractors, and that deviations are well managed. Progress has been made in bringing the facility into compliance with certain articles of resolution 2013-DC‑0360 of 16 July 2013 and with the resolution that specifically regulates the discharges from the Phénix NPP. The facility has also begun a campaign of detailed radiological mapping of some of its premises, in order to optimise its waste zoning and thus direct the waste produced to appropriate management routes. Construction of the NOAH facility, which will treat the sodium from Phénix and other CEA installations, progressed in 2021 and the operating tests prior to commissioning are continuing. ASN has however been informed of contractual diff iculties on one of the site work packages, which will push back commissioning of the NOAH facility. The licensee is currently redefining the reference scenario for facility decommissioning, in line with the decommissioning strategy for all the CEA facilities. These changes in the reference scenario will lead to a request to modify the decree, which requires NPP decommissioning to follow a predetermined schedule. The next periodic safety review report is moreover expected at the end of 2022. Diadem facility – CEA centre The Diadem facility, currently under construction, shall be dedicated to the storage of containers of radioactive waste from decommissioning emitting beta and gamma radiation, or waste rich in alpha emitters, pending construction of facilities for the disposal of long-lived waste (LLW) or low and intermediate-level short-lived wastes (LL/ILW-SL) whose characteristics –especially the dose rate– means they cannot be accepted in their present state by the Aube repository (CSA). ASN considers that there are numerous shortcomings in the organisational set-up for project control, for exercising the responsibility of nuclear licensee and for processing deviations. The CEA must thus take all necessary measures to guarantee compliance with the regulatory requirements in these areas. The procedures undertaken by the licensee to restore an acceptable situation, further to ASN’s oversight action concerning the processing of deviations or its responsibilities as nuclear licensee, are satisfactory on the whole, even if a considerable amount of work still has to be accomplished. ASN emphasises that this facility is destined to play a key role in the CEA’s overall decommissioning and waste management strategy, and that it is the only facility planned for the interim storage of waste packages it is to receive. The CEA filed a request to modify the Creation Authorisation Decree (DAC) in 2021 further to change in the package closure technology. It also f iled its commissioning authorisation application file for the facility in 2021. The operations necessary for its commissioning, today planned for 2024, must be a priority for the CEA. Assessment of the CEA Marcoule centre ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of the civil facilities of the CEA Marcoule centre is satisfactory on the whole. In 2021, ASN inspected the management of on-site transport and the measures taken to deliver the modification authorisations to the nuclear installations of the centre. Control of the modification management procedures and the application of modifications within the BNI is satisfactory on the whole. ASN nevertheless remains attentive to the quality of the checks carried out prior to transport operations. In 2021, ASN conducted an in-depth inspection to assess the CEA’s ability to apply its new waste management and decommissioning strategy both nationally and locally. ASN more specifically checked the measures implemented by the licensee to conduct, in accordance with the commitments made, the priority operations of reducing the dispersible inventory in the facilities undergoing decommissioning. With regard to environmental protection, the CEA submitted a study in 2020 relative to the sanitary and environmental assessment of the liquid and gaseous chemical discharges from the Marcoule platform. ASN has asked the licensee to supplement its study and propose a third-party expert to appraise this assessment. ASN will make sure that the action plan to bring the piezometers of the CEA Marcoule centre into compliance with the Order of 11 September 2003 by 2024 is implemented. In addition, the CEA continued the initiative to improve management of the Phénix stormwaters in 2021. It informed ASN that the work initiated further to the technical-economic study on this subject should be completed by the end of the first half of 2022. 86 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2021 REGIONAL OVERVIEWOF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION
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