Regulating the application of labour law in the Nuclear Power Plants ASN is responsible for labour inspectorate duties in the 18 Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs), the EPR reactor under construction at Flamanville and 11 other installations, most of which are reactors undergoing decommissioning. The regulation of safety, radiation protection and labour inspection very often covers common topics, such as worksite organisation or the conditions of use of outside contractors. The ASN labour inspectors have four essential duties: ∙ checking application of all aspects of labour legislation (health, occupational safety and working conditions, occupational accident inquiries, quality of employment, collective labour relations); ∙ advising and informing the employers, employees and personnel representatives about their rights, duties and labour legislation; ∙ informing the administration of changes in the working environment and any shortcomings in the legislation; ∙ facilitating conciliation between the parties. The ASN labour inspectors have the same powers and the same prerogatives as common law labour inspectors. They belong to the labour inspectorate system for which the central authority is the General Directorate for Labour. The duties of the labour inspectors are based on international standards (International Labour Organisation – ILO – Convention No. 81) and national regulations. ASN carries them out in liaison with the other Government departments concerned, mainly the departments of the Ministry responsible for labour. ASN has set up an organisation designed to deal with these issues. The action of the ASN labour inspectors (20 staff qualified as labour inspectors by ASN, representing 8.20 Full-Time Equivalent of which 2 are for the labour inspectorate mission) has been reinforced in the field since 2009, particularly during reactor outages, with inspection visits, advisory roles at the meetings of the Committee for Health, Safety and Working Conditions (CHSCT) and the Inter-company Committees on Safety and Working Conditions (CIESCT), as well as regular discussions with the social partners. 2.2 Internal checks performed by the licensees 2.2.1 Internal monitoring of the licensees of Basic Nuclear Installations In 2017, ASN issued a resolution (2017‑DC‑0616 of 30 November 2017) which specifies the criteria for distinguishing the noteworthy modifications requiring ASN authorisation from those simply requiring notification. It also defines the requirements applicable to the management of noteworthy modifications, more particularly the internal check procedures to be implemented by the licensees. ASN checks correct application of the provisions stipulated by this resolution. 2.2.2 Internal monitoring of radiation protection by the users of ionising radiation sources The provisions of Articles R. 4451‑40 to R. 4451-51 of the Labour Code specify the verifications to be performed during the lifetime of the work equipment or the facilities, in the form of initial verifications (by an accredited organisation), which may be repeated, and periodic verifications (by the Radiation Protection Advisor – RPA). 2.3 ASN approval of organisations and laboratories ASN can draw on the results of inspections performed by the independent organisations and laboratories that it approves and whose actions it monitors. Article L.592-21 of the Environment Code states that ASN issues the required approvals to the organisations participating in the verifications and monitoring concerning nuclear safety or radiation protection. The list of approved organisations and Laboratories is available on asn.fr. ASN thus approves organisations so that they can perform the technical inspections or verifications required by the regulations in the fields within its scope of competence: ∙ radiation protection verifications; ∙ measurement of radon activity concentration in premises open to the public; ∙ assessment of NPE conformity and inspection of PE in service. TABLE Methods of ASN regulation of the various radiation protection stakeholders EXAMINATION/AUTHORISATION INSPECTION COOPERATION Users of sources of ionising radiation • Examination of the dossiers required by the Public Health Code (Articles R.1333-1 et seq.) • Pre-commissioning inspection, mainly in the medical field • Receipt of notification, registration or issue of authorisation (Article R. 1333 ‑8) • Radiation protection inspection (Article L. 1333 ‑29 of the Public Health Code) • Jointly with the professional organisations, drafting of guides of good practices for users of ionising radiation Organisations approved for radiation protection checks • Examination of approval application files for performance of inspections required by Article R. 1333 ‑172 of the Public Health Code • Organisation audit • Delivery of approval • Second level inspection: ‒ in-depth inspections at head office and in the branches of the organisations ‒ unannounced field supervision inspections • Jointly with the professional organisations, drafting of rules of good practices for performance of radiation protection checks 1 148 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2022 • 03 • Regulation of nuclear activities and exposure to ionising radiation 03
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