1. The power lines take away the current generated by the NPPs but also enable the fuel to be cooled when the plant is shut down or enable facilities other than NPPs to function correctly. The independent association of European national nuclear regulators ABSTRACTS – ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2022 17 Notable events 2022 The IAEA Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi, inspects the damage from shelling during his visit to Zaporizhzhia in september 2022 to physical and psychological pressure from the Russian occupiers. These conditions are thus far from being the best for a calm response to any incident and for correct performance of the day-to-day activities. The SNRIU is also finding it increasingly difficult to conduct oversight of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, because it no longer has access to the site since its occupation by the Russians and it receives little direct information from the site. Finally, the uncertainty regarding the ability of the licensee and the SNRIU to manage any accident on the NPP is compounded by the question of the ability of the authorities to take any population protection measures that would be needed. ASN mobilisation and actions As of the beginning of the conflict, the nuclear safety authorities took preventive action, notably at a European level, so that in the case of an event at a Ukrainian nuclear installation, they could provide the public authorities with coordinated assistance. Various initiatives were carried out to recall the international principles of nuclear law, produce situation briefings, share analyses of the possible safety developments and provide the SNRIU and the Ukrainian Government with material or human assistance. ASN assisted the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) with its analyses of the situation and its position statements. It also coordinated the national response drawn up under the Response Assistance Network (RANET) to meet the needs for individual protection and radiation protection resources expressed by Ukraine. As Chair of the Western European Nuclear Regulators’ Association (WENRA) the ASN Director General took the initiative of creating an expert group specifically mandated to carry out activities related to the war in Ukraine. This expert group regularly performed technical analysis of situations with safety implications and published its resulting position statements. These position statements, based on the potential consequences of any worsening of the situation, express the joint view of the regulators regarding the safety of the installations concerned, the time available for a response and the possible impacts of a deterioration of the situation. In addition, in order to harmonise the recommendations in the event of an accident, this expert group identified the capacity available in Europe for modelling the progress of an accident and the dispersal of releases, and compared the results to a test case, which enabled the various models to be readjusted to ensure consistency. This action will continue until such time as the nuclear safety situation in Ukraine has returned to normal.
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