4 International conventions ASN is the national point of contact and the Competent Authority for the two nuclear safety conventions which deal with NPPs (Convention on Nuclear Safety) and spent fuel and radioactive waste (Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management) respectively. ASN is also the Competent Authority for the two Conventions dedicated to the transboundary management of the possible consequences of accidents (the Convention on the Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident and the Convention on Assistance in the case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency). 4.1 THE CONVENTION ON NUCLEAR SAFETY The Convention on Nuclear Safety is one of the results of international discussions initiated in 1992 in order to contribute to maintaining a high level of nuclear safety worldwide. The Convention on Nuclear Safety was signed by France in 1994 and entered into force on 24 October 1996. At the end of 2023, it had 94 contracting parties. The objectives of the Convention are to attain and maintain a high level of nuclear safety worldwide, to establish and maintain effective defences in nuclear facilities against potential radiological risks and to prevent accidents which could have radiological consequences and mitigate their consequences should they occur. The areas covered by the Convention have long been part of the French approach to nuclear safety. In 2015, the contracting parties to the convention, taking account of the lessons learned from the Fukushima-Daiichi NPP accident, adopted the Vienna Declaration on nuclear safety. This Declaration, which extensively incorporates the principles of the European Directive on the safety of nuclear facilities, sets ambitious nuclear safety objectives aiming to prevent nuclear accidents worldwide and to mitigate the radiological consequences if one were to occur. The Convention makes provision for review meetings by the contracting parties every three years, to develop cooperation and the exchange of experience. As Competent Authority, ASN coordinates French participation in this three-yearly peer review exercise, in close collaboration with the institutional and industrial partners concerned. This coordination work concerns the drafting of the national report, analysis of the reports from the other contracting parties and participation in the review meetings. Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the review meeting could not be held in 2020. A review meeting common to the 8th and 9th cycles was finally held in March 2023. ASN was present and active throughout this meeting, to ensure a presence and participation in the discussions in all the country groups. During this review meeting, ASN presented France’s report, which led to the identification of two good practices to involve the public in the 4th periodic safety review of the 900 Megawatts electric (MWe) reactors, and for collaboration with the Czech and Finnish authorities on the review of the Nuward reactor. ASN is also actively participating in the meetings aiming to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Convention on Nuclear Safety, in preparation for the 10th review cycle, for which the reports are expected in 2025. 4.2 THE JOINT CONVENTION ON THE SAFETY OF SPENT FUEL MANAGEMENT AND ON THE SAFETY OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT The Joint Convention is the counterpart to the Convention on Nuclear Safety for the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste from civil nuclear activities. France signed it on 29 September 1997, and it entered into force on 18 June 2001. At the end of 2023, this Convention had 89 contracting parties. In the same way as the Convention on Nuclear Safety, it is founded on a peer review mechanism, with each contracting party submitting a 3-yearly national report to the other parties for review, along with a review meeting. The next meeting will be held in March 2025. The French report, for which the drafting is coordinated by ASN, will be submitted to IAEA in August 2024. In 2023, ASN began preparatory work on the drafting of this report, notably taking account of the lessons learned from its analysis of the previous report. 4.3 THE CONVENTION ON EARLY NOTIFICATION OF A NUCLEAR ACCIDENT The Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident entered into force on 27 October 1986, six months after the Chernobyl accident and had 133 contracting parties at the end of 2023. The contracting parties undertake to inform the international community as rapidly as possible of any accident leading to the uncontrolled release of radioactive substances into the environment and liable to affect a neighbouring State. For this purpose, the IAEA proposes a tool to the Member States for notification and assistance in the event of a radiological emergency. ASN made an active contribution to the production of this tool, the USIE (Unified System for Information Exchange in Incidents and Emergencies), which is in use in ASN’s Emergency Centre and is tested on the occasion of each exercise. The Interministerial Directive of 30 May 2005 specifies the conditions of application of this text in France and mandates ASN as the Competent National Authority. It is therefore up to ASN to report the events to the international institutions without delay, to rapidly provide pertinent information about the situation, in particular to border countries, so that they can take the necessary population protection measures and, finally, to provide the ministers concerned with a copy of the notifications and the information transmitted or received. 4.4 THE CONVENTION ON ASSISTANCE IN THE EVENT OF A NUCLEAR ACCIDENT OR RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY The Convention on Assistance in the event of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency entered into force on 26 February 1987 and had 123 contracting parties at the end of 2023. Its aim is to facilitate cooperation between countries should one of them be affected by an accident having radiological consequences. This Convention has already been activated on several occasions as a result of irradiation accidents caused by abandoned radioactive sources. More specifically, France’s specialised medical services regularly provide treatment for the victims of such accidents. ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2023 199 • 06 • International relations 06 05 15 08 11 04 14 07 13 AP 03 10 02 09 12 01
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