3 The multilateral framework for ASN’s international relations At the multilateral level, cooperation takes place notably within the framework of the IAEA, a United Nations agency founded in 1957, and the NEA, created in 1958. These two agencies are the two most important intergovernmental organisations in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection. 3.1 THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA) The IAEA is a United Nations organisation based in Vienna and comprises 177 Member States. IAEA’s activities are focused on two main areas: one of them concerns the control of nuclear materials and non-proliferation and the other concerns all activities related to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. In this latter field, two IAEA departments are tasked with developing and promoting nuclear energy on the one hand and the safety and security of nuclear facilities and activities, on the other. Following on from the action plan approved by the IAEA Board of Governors in September 2011 and with the aim of reinforcing safety worldwide by learning the lessons from the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident, the IAEA is in particular focusing its work on the following fields: Safety Standards and peer review missions. Safety Standards The IAEA Safety Standards describe the safety principles and practices that the vast majority of Member States use as the basis for their national regulations. This activity is supervised by the IAEA’s Commission on Safety Standards (CSS), set up in 1996. The CSS comprises 24 highest level representatives from the national safety regulators, appointed for a term of four years. One ASN Commissioner sits on this Commission. It coordinates the work of five committees tasked with drafting documents in their respective fields: NUSSC (Nuclear Safety Standards Committee) for the safety of reactors, RASSC (Radiation Safety Standards Committee) for radiation protection, TRANSSC (Transport Safety Standards Committee) for the safety of radioactive substances transport, WASSC (Waste Safety Standards Committee) for the safe management of radioactive waste and EPReSC (Emergency Preparedness and Response Standards Committee) for preparedness and coordination in a radiological emergency situation. France, represented by ASN, is present on each of these committees, which meet twice every year. Representatives of the various French organisations concerned also take part in the technical groups which draft these documents. The year 2023 was notably marked by the publication of a large number of safety guides. A working group, of which ASN is a member, was also set up with the aim of drawing up a new longterm plan for the safety standards. The previous long-term plan dates from 2008 and its objectives have to a large extent been met. The new plan will identify the priorities for drafting new safety standards and will set guidelines for the committees and the secretariat. It should cover a period of 15 to 20 years and it should be approved in 2026. Peer review missions IAEA proposes several types of review missions for those Member States which so request. These missions are carried out by teams of experts on particular topics in the countries which so request. Each team of auditors consists of experts from Member States and from the IAEA. The audits are produced on the basis of the IAEA’s baseline Safety Standards. Several types of audit are proposed, notably the IRRS (Integrated Regulatory Review Service) missions devoted to the national regulatory framework for nuclear safety and the working of the safety regulator, the OSART (Operational Safety Review Team) missions, devoted to the safety of NPPs in operation, or the ARTEMIS (Integrated Review Service for Radioactive waste and Spent Fuel Management, Decommissioning and Remediation) missions, devoted to national radioactive waste and spent fuel management programmes. The audit results are written up in a report transmitted to the requesting country and may comprise various levels of recommendations while also recognising good practices. It is up to the requesting country to take account of the recommendations issued by the experts. A follow-up mission, the purpose of which is to verify the progress made in taking account of the recommendations, is held between 18 months and 4 years after the initial mission, depending on the type of audit. ASN’s situation regarding these missions is presented below. IRRS Missions The IRRS missions are devoted to analysing all aspects of the framework governing nuclear safety and the activity of a safety regulator. ASN is in favour of holding these peer reviews on a regular basis, and incorporates their results into its continuous improvement approach. It should be noted that, pursuant to the provisions of the 2009/71/Euratom Directive amended in 2014, the Member States of the EU are already subject to periodic and mandatory peer reviews of their general nuclear safety and radiation protection oversight organisation. The IRRS missions are a means of meeting this obligation. In 2023, several ASN staff members took part in IRRS missions in the Czech Republic, Belgium, Romania and Morocco. Given the ongoing reform of nuclear safety regulation and oversight in France, the decision was taken to postpone the IRRS mission in France, initially planned for 2024, to a later date. OSART Missions In France, it is ASN that asks the IAEA to organise OSART missions devoted to the safety of NPP operation, in coordination with EDF, the licensee of the NPPs. Three OSART missions were held in France in 2023, in the Belleville-sur-Loire and Paluel NPPs (follows-up mission) as well as at Penly. 27 September 2023 meeting in Vienna between Bernard Doroszczuk, ASN Chairman, and Rafael Grossi, IAEA Director General ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2023 197 • 06 • International relations 06 05 15 08 11 04 14 07 13 AP 03 10 02 09 12 01
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