ASN Report 2021

have been f inalised, in accordance with the last schedule proposed by the CEA in November 2020. A quarterly progress report shall be sent to ASN until the last waste has been removed from this site, planned for late December 2022. As for the LPC, the cryotreatment process removal operations continued in 2021. ASN considers that the monitoring of the containment barriers, the application of ASN resolution 2017-DC-0592 of 30 November 2017 relative to emergency situation management, the methodological procedure put in place for performing the periodic safety reviews and the tracking of the associated action plans by the two facilities are satisfactory on the whole. ASN will remain attentive to bringing the discharge outlet sampling points into compliance. Masurca research reactor – CEA centre The Masurca reactor (BNI 39), whose construction was authorised by a Decree of 14 December 1966, was intended for neutron studies, chiefly on the cores of fast neutron reactors, and the development of neutron measurement techniques. The reactor has been shut down since 2007. Final shutdown of the facility was declared by the CEA on 31 December 2018. The licensee submitted the facility decommissioning file in December 2020 and in the interim has carried out decommissioning preparation work, such as removal of asbestos from the premises, rehabilitation of buildings and removal of conventional equipment. The licensee’s organisation for managing deviations is satisfactory on the whole. The license must nevertheless make progress in the detection and analysis of low-level events. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of the Masurca BNI in 2021 is satisfactory on the whole. Éole and Minerve research reactors – CEA centre The experimental reactors Éole and Minerve are very-lowpower (less than 1 kW) critical mock-ups that were used for neutron studies, in particular to evaluate the absorption of gamma rays or neutrons by materials. The Éole reactor (BNI 42), whose construction was authorised by a Decree of 23 June 1965, was intended primarily for neutron studies of moderated arrays, in particular those of PWRs and boiling water reactors. The Minerve reactor (BNI 95), whose transfer from the Fontenay‑aux‑Roses studies centre to the Cadarache studies centre was authorised by a Decree of 21 September 1977, is situated in the same hall as the Éole reactor. Teaching and research activities were carried out on these mock-ups until their final shutdown on 31 December 2017. The CEA submitted the update of its decommissioning file in July 2021, further to the complementary information requests made in 2019. Pending decommissioning, preparatory operations aiming to remove the f issile materials and better characterise the remaining radioactive equipment, in order to determine the necessary clean-out operations, continued in 2021. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of the Éole and Minerve reactors is satisfactory on the whole. The enriched Uranium Processing Facilities – CEA centre From 1963 to 1995, the enriched Uranium Processing Facilities (ATUe –BNI 52) converted uranium hexafluoride (UF6) from the enrichment plants into sinterable oxide, and ensured the chemical reprocessing of waste from the manufacture of fuel elements. Decommissioning of this facility was authorised by Decree in February 2006. The f irst decommissioning phases, which consisted in removing the process equipment and the ventilation, effluent and electrical infrastructures, were completed in 2008. The only activities in the facility today are the maintenance and regulatory periodic inspection operations. The licensee has fallen substantially behind the initial schedule in the decommissioning operations, especially the civil engineering structure clean-out. It requested a modification of its Decree in 2010 and 2014, to take account of the true radiological condition of the facility. The new Decommissioning Decree was published on 16 April 2021. ASN has regulated the performance of certain decommissioning operations by two resolutions of 14 October 2021. Alongside this, ASN made public its analysis of the periodic safety review of the facility on 7 September 2021. It has no objection to the continuation of the decommissioning operations. ASN considers that the level of safety of BNI 52 (ATUe) in 2021 is satisfactory on the whole. The commitments made further to the preceding signif icant events and the periodic safety review are correctly implemented. Central fissile material warehouse – CEA centre Created in 1968, the Central Fissile Material Warehouse (MCMF –BNI 53) was a warehouse for storing enriched uranium and plutonium, until its f inal shutdown and removal of all its nuclear materials on 31 December 2017. The licensee submitted its decommissioning file in November 2018, and ASN is currently examining it. The decommissioning preparation operations initiated in 2018, notably the chemical and radiological characterisations of the facility, continued in 2021. ASN considers that the chemical and radiological characterisation of the facility is well managed on the whole. ASN made public its conclusions on the last periodic safety review of the facility in June 2021. It has no objection to the continuation of the decommissioning preparation operations. ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2021 93 REGIONAL OVERVIEW OF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION PROVENCE-ALPES-CÔTE D’AZUR

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