Chicade laboratory – CEA centre Since 1993, the Chicade facility (BNI 156) has been conducting research and development work on low and intermediate-level objects and waste, chiefly involving: • the destructive and non-destructive characterisation of radioactive objects, waste sample packages and irradiating objects; • the development and qualification of nuclear measurement systems; • the development and implementation of chemical and radiochemical analysis methods; • the expert assessment and inspection of waste packages packaged by the waste producers. ASN considers that the level of safety and radiation protection is satisfactory on the whole, particularly with regard to waste management and meeting commitments. Improvements in the management of radioactive waste are currently being implemented, particularly as regards the collection, storage and removal of the radioactive samples produced by the facility. Further to the examination of the periodic safety review concluding report, ASN has set technical requirements aiming to regulate the continued operation of the facility in resolution CODEP‑MRS-2022‑004859 of 29 August 2022. Resolution CODEP-DRC-2022-001529 of 19 September 2022 authorises the licensee to package the disused sealed sources in “870L Bulk Source” packages. This resolution will enable the CEA to carry out a characterisation programme on packages of controlled composition and thereby improve and qualify certain characterisation techniques, and enhance the understanding of the corrosion and radiolysis phenomena within radioactive waste packages. Cedra storage facility – CEA centre Since 2006, the Cedra facility (BNI 164) is used to store ILW-LL pending the creation of appropriate disposal routes. The CEA forecasts that this facility will be filled to capacity by 2027. The studies concerning a project to double the storage capacity began in 2020. ASN considers that the licensee’s verifications regarding the monitoring of outside contractors and the meeting of its commitments are satisfactory on the whole. Improvements are expected in management of the fire risk and maintaining the appropriate technical skills and qualifications necessary for operation of the facility. Due to the CEA’s desire to stagger the filing of the conclusions of the periodic safety reviews of its facilities over time, it submitted the concluding report for the periodic safety review of Cedra in November 2022, ahead of schedule. Magenta storage warehouse – CEA centre The Magenta facility (BNI 169), which replaces the MCMF currently being decommissioned, has been dedicated since 2011 to the storage of non-irradiated fissile material and the non-destructive characterisation of the nuclear materials received. The licensee submited its safety review conclusion report in February 2021. In 2022, the licensee supplemented this file at the request of ASN and a dedicated inspection was carried out. Shortcomings were found in the conformity check and areas for improvement in action plan monitoring were identified. An authorisation application file for the densification of storage of certain types of package in the facility was submitted to ASN in January 2022. This file is currently being examined by ASN. The CEA confirmed the need to commission the Magenta glove boxes, planned for at the design stage but not yet authorised, by 2028/2030. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of the facility in 2022 is on the whole satisfactory, primarily concerning protection of the environment. Effluent advanced management and processing facility – CEA centre The Agate facility (BNI 171), commissioned in 2014 to replace BNI 37-B which is now shut down, uses an evaporation pro - cess to concentrate radioactive liquid effluents containing mainly beta- and gamma-emitting radionuclides. ASN considers that the licensee has competently managed the repair work on the superheated non-radioactive water pipe, on which a leak was detected in December 2020. This repair enabled the facility’s evaporator to be returned to service in the first quarter of 2022. ASN sent the CEA its opinion on the periodic safety review guidance file on 25 April 2022. The consequences of the planned changes to the facility must thus be taken into con - sideration in the concluding report of the facility’s first periodic safety review, to be submitted by 29 April 2024 at the latest. ASN underlines that this facility plays a central role in the management of the CEA effluents and as such constitutes a sensitive facility in the CEA’s decommissioning and material and waste management strategy. Jules Horowitz Reactor project – CEA centre The JHR (BNI 172), under construction since 2009, is a pressurised-water research reactor designed to study the behaviour of materials under irradiation and of power reactor fuels. It will also allow the production of artificial radionuclides for nuclear medicine. Its power is limited to 100 MWth. The activities on the construction site and on the suppliers’ sites continuedin 2022. The work has more specifically con - cerned lining of the pools and channels of the nuclear auxil - iaries building, installation of the door or gate equipment and the hot cells. Numerous in-plant manufacturing operations are in progress. The CEA continuedthe studies and analyses concerning the problems detected in 2020 during the qualification tests of certain internal equipment items of the reactor pile block. The expert assessment of the RER pool, displaying signs of cor - rosion on a weld, was completed and appropriate corrective actions have been defined. ABSTRACTS – ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2022 95 Regional overview of nuclear safety and radiation protection • PROVENCE-ALPES-CÔTE D’AZUR •
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