PHASE 2 Project preparatory review Once the project maturity is considered to be sufficient with respect to the three above-mentioned criteria, a cycle of thematic discussion meetings is scheduled. By means of presentations and Q&A sessions, the purpose of this cycle of meetings is to obtain a precise overview of the project. These meetings more particularly help to obtain an understanding of its particular design, paint a picture of the knowledge both available and still to be acquired, and clearly identify the main safety orientations of the project. This phase entails a first level of mobilisation by the IRSN specialists, but simply constitutes an exchange of information in preparation for future assessments. At this stage neither ASN nor IRSN expresses any technical position on the project. PHASE 3 Pre-licensing of the fundamental safety options of the project Pursuant to Article R. 593-14 of the Environment Code, before finalising the detailed design of its reactor, the project developer that intends to apply for a creation authorisation procedure can ask ASN for its opinion on some or all of the fundamental aspects of its project. 2. Time during which safety can be guaranteed with no intervention being required (for example the time for which – in the event of total loss of electrical power – safety can be guaranteed passively, pending the restoration of a back-up power source). With regard to these innovative reactor projects, ASN recommends that the project developers take advantage of this pre‑licensing step, which enables initial technical assessments to be started and enables the positions of the regulator to be obtained on a jointly agreed list of identified high-stakes subjects further to the preparatory review phase. PHASE 4 Assessment of the creation authorisation application Finally, once the detailed design of the reactor project is ready, a submission of a creation authorisation application can be envisaged. This phase represents a new step in the increasing commitment of resources by ASN and IRSN. Following the complete technical evaluation of the project, there will also be an evaluation of the characteristics of the planned site and a programme of inspections of the applicant, who acquires the de facto status of licensee, notably with the aim of checking its management system and its ability to manage subcontracting. 5 New safety challenges and safety objectives to be adapted Whereas the siting of a new power generating reactor is one of the aspects of the project which can to a certain extent be a choice, this is not the case for numerous SMR projects. If the particular target is the industrial heat production market, then the siting of an SMR is determined by the location of the customer to whom it will be delivering the energy. Numerous SMR projects are thus aiming for deployment on industrial sites located near to or even within urban areas. This type of siting near to densely populated or industrial areas is being envisaged by the project developers because these reactors are likely to be able to achieve safety levels significantly better than those of today’s large power generating reactors. The low power to be removed in the event of an accident should make it possible to combine passive and active safety systems, leading to increased diversification of the safety provisions, longer grace periods(2) and better protection of the containment barriers. In addition, some of the new technologies proposed have specific characteristics (such as the intrinsic containment performance of the particular fuels of high-temperature reactors), which also make it possible to envisage a significant reduction in radioactive releases in the event of an accident, even the most severe. Even if these reactors can in principle achieve a higher safety level than those of the high-power electricity generating reactors, ASN considers that the safety objectives to be attained must be defined before envisaging such siting close to population centres. ASN thus set up a pluralistic working group to consider the reinforced safety objectives to be defined before envisaging such siting choices. TABLE Status of technical exchanges between the SMR project sponsors, ASN and IRSN PROJECT SCREENING PHASE PREPARATORY REVIEW PRE LICENSING (SAFETY OPTIONS) ASSESSMENT OF THE CREATION AUTHORISATION APPLICATION NUWARD In progress CALOGENA Planned OTRERA To be repeated HEXANA To be repeated JIMMY Finalised BLUE CAPSULE To be repeated NEWCLEO In progress NAAREA In progress STELLARIA To be repeated THORIZON To be repeated 3 324 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2023 • 11 • The emergence of small modular reactor projects
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