2.3.2 Consultation of the public on draft individual resolutions The individual resolutions(3) concerning nuclear safety and radiation protection can form the subject of several public consultation procedures which are presented below. The public inquiry In application of the Environment Code, the BNI creation authorisation and decommissioning applications form the subject of a public inquiry(4).The file that undergoes the public inquiry contains the impact analysis and the risk control analysis, among other things. The impact analysis and the risk control analysis provide a clearly understandable inventory of the risks that the projected installation represents and an analysis of the measures taken to prevent these risks. This analysis also includes a nontechnical summary intended to facilitate the general public’s understanding of the information it contains. Since 2017, the public inquiry file can be consulted on line throughout the duration of the inquiry, and is provided in printed format in one or more predetermined places as soon as the public inquiry opens. The preliminary safety report (a more technical document) is not included in the public inquiry file but can be consulted throughout the inquiry period under the conditions set by the order governing the inquiry. Article L. 593‑19 of the Environment Code makes the “measures proposed by the licensees during the safety reviews beyond the 35th year of operation of a nuclear power reactor” subject to public inquiry. This is a special provision since the public inquiry does not focus on the continued operation of a nuclear power reactor as such, but on the adequacy of all the “measures proposed by the licensee” of which the end-purpose must aim to reduce the impacts of the facility on the environment with a view to its continued operation. Articles R. 593‑62‑2 and R. 593‑62‑9 of the Environment Code set the conditions necessary for holding this public inquiry, notably to foster the effectiveness of public participation by enabling the public to assess the safety improvements already implemented and planned by the licensee in the context of the continued operation of its installation. Posting the draft documents on asn.fr The individual resolutions that are not subject to public inquiry and which could have a significant effect on the environment (such as the draft resolutions relative to water intakes or discharges) are made available for consultation on the Internet in application of Article L. 123-19-2 of the Environment Code. 3. Resolution that applies to a licensee for a given installation. 4. In application of the provisions of Article L. 593-8 or L. 593-28 of the Environment Code. If III of Article L. 122‑1‑1 of the Environment Code is applied, some BNI commissioning resolutions are subject to on-line public participation provided for in Article L. 123-19 of the Environment Code. During the year 2022, 68 consultations concerned draft individual resolutions. 2.3.3 Consultation of particular bodies The BNI authorisation procedures also provide for consultation of the environmental authority, the regional authorities and their groupings concerned by the project, and the CLIS (see point 2.4.3). The CLIS also have the possibility of being heard by the ASN Commission before it issues its opinion on the draft decrees, such as the Draft Authorisation Decree which is submitted to ASN by the Minister responsible for nuclear safety. The CLI is consulted on the draft ASN requirements concerning water intakes, effluent discharges into the surrounding environment and the prevention or mitigation of detrimental effects of the installation for the public and the environment. The Prefect forwards, for information, the draft requirements and the presentation report to the Departmental Council for the Environment and for Health and Technological Risks (Coderst). It can also ask this Council for its opinion on the draft requirements. 2.3.4 Consultation: for ever wider and more varied participation of the various audiences ASN ensures that these consultations allow the public and the associations concerned to contribute, in particular by verifying the quality of the licensee’s files and by trying to develop the CLI’s resources so that they can express an opinion on these files. Digital technologies and citizen participation practices are bringing ASN to change the public consultation framework to ensure effective participation of the public in the decisionmaking process. 2.4 The actors in the area of information 2.4.1 High Committee for Transparency and Information on Nuclear Safety The High Committee for Transparency and Information on Nuclear Safety (HCTISN), created by the TSN Act, is a body that informs, discusses and debates on nuclear activities, their safety and their impact on human health and the environment. It can also deal with any issue concerning the accessibility of nuclear security information and propose any measures such as to guarantee or improve transparency. The HCTISN produces opinions and makes them public. It organises four plenary meetings per year, at which major topical subjects are presented and discussed: all the presentations are available at hctisn.fr. The ASN Chairman is a member of the High Committee; ASN sits on the board of the HCTISN in an advisory capacity, takes part in its various working groups and regularly provides information on the subjects on plenary session agendas. In 2022, the two HCTISN groups, one devoted to the consultation on the fourth periodic safety review of the 900 MWe nuclear power reactors, the other to the consultation for the Cigéo project, continued their work. CONSULTATIONS, WHAT THEY INVOLVE The public participation procedure consists in posting the draft ASN regulation on the ASN website for at least 21 days in order to give people time to make their comments. An indicative list of the scheduled consultations on draft ASN regulations and guides having an impact on the environment is updated every three months on asn.fr. A synthesis of the remarks received, indicating how they were taken into account and a document setting out the reasons for the regulation are published on asn.fr at the latest on the date of publication of the regulation. 188 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2022 • 05 • Informing the public 05
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