The ASN review focuses on compliance with the applicable rules for detecting and notifying significant events, the immediate technical, organisational or human measures taken by the licensee to maintain or bring the installation to a safe condition, and the pertinence of the submitted analysis. ASN and IRSN also carry out a more wide-ranging examination of the operating experience feedback from the events. The significant event reports and the periodic reviews sent by the licensees, as well as their assessment by ASN and IRSN, constitute the basis of OEF. The examination of OEF may lead to ASN requests for improvements to the condition of the facilities and the organisation adopted by the licensee, but also for changes to the regulations. OEF comprises the events which occur in France and abroad in nuclear facilities or in those presenting non-radiological hazards, if it is pertinent to take them into account in order to reinforce nuclear safety or radiation protection. 3.3.3 Technical inquiries held in the event of an incident or accident concerning a nuclear activity ASN has the authority to carry out an immediate technical inquiry in the event of an incident or accident in a nuclear activity. This inquiry consists in collecting and analysing all useful information, without prejudice to any judicial inquiry, in order to determine the circumstances and the identified or possible causes of the event, and draw up the appropriate recommendations if necessary. Articles L. 592-35 et seq. of the Environment Code give ASN powers to set up a board of inquiry, determine its composition (ASN staff and people from outside ASN), define the subject and scope of the investigations and gain access to all necessary elements in the event of a judicial inquiry. Decree 2007-1572 of 6 November 2007 on technical inquiries into accidents or incidents concerning a nuclear activity specifies the procedure to be followed. It is based on practices defined by the other boards of inquiry and takes account of aspects specific to ASN, notably its independence, its own roles, its ability to impose binding requirements or sanctions. 3.3.4 Statistical summary of events In 2023, 2,018 significant events were reported to ASN: ∙ 1,164 significant events concerning nuclear safety, radiation protection, the environment and the on-site transport of hazardous materials within BNIs, 1,098 of which are rated on the INES scale (86 level 1 events and two level 2 events). Of these events, 16 significant events were rated as “generic events”, in other words concerning several reactors, including one at level 2 on the INES scale; ∙ 86 significant events concerning the TSR on the public highway (two events rated level 1 on the INES scale); ∙ 768 ESRs for small-scale nuclear activities, including 201 rated on the INES scale (25 level 1 events). Graphs 1 to 6 (see next pages) describe in detail the significant events reported to ASN in 2023, differentiating between them according to the various notification criteria for each field of activity. In 2023, two events were rated level 2 on the INES scale: The first concerns the presence of a deep crack on the safety injection circuit of Penly NPP reactor 1 detected as part of the action plan defined following the discovery of stress corrosion cracks at the end of 2021. It falls within the scope of the generic event concerning this phenomenon and which has been covered by numerous ASN publications. The event is presented in a box in chapter 10 (see page 297). The second concerns the external contamination of a worker in the Cattenom NPP, leading to exceeding of the annual statutory dose limit for the equivalent dose to the skin. This event is also described in more detail in chapter 10 (see page 313). An event reported in 2022, concerning contamination of an employee of a nuclear medicine department, was also re-rated level 2 on the INES scale in 2023, following analyses which demonstrated that the regulation skin exposure limit had been exceeded in a single event. As indicated earlier, these data must be used with caution: they do not in themselves constitute a safety indicator. ASN encourages the licensees to report incidents, which contributes to transparency and the sharing of experience. TABLE Number of significant events rated on the INES scale between 2018 and 2023 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Basic Nuclear Installations Level 0 989 1,057 1,033 1,068 985 1,010 Level 1 103 112 107 103 97 86 Level 2 0 3 2 1 0 2 Level 3 and + 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 1,092 1,172 1,142 1,172 1,082 1,098 Small-scale nuclear activities (medical and industry) Level 0 143 142 135 177 163 (*) 176 Level 1 22 35 24 33 37 (*) 25 Level 2 0 2 1 0 2 (*) 0 Level 3 and + 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 165 179 160 210 202 201 Transport of radioactive substances Level 0 88 85 71 80 76 84 Level 1 3 4 4 4 12 2 Level 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Level 3 and + 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 91 89 75 84 88 86 Grand Total 1,348 1,440 1,377 1,466 1,372 1,385 * Only the data concerning significant events rated level 1 and higher on the INES scale were updated (following the re-ratings carried out in the year following that of reporting). 6 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2023 155 • 03 • Regulation of nuclear activities and exposure to ionising radiation 03 05 15 08 11 04 14 06 07 13 AP 10 02 09 12 01
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