Removal of the irradiated fuel and equipment continued in 2023 in accordance with the ASN requirements. Construction of the NOAH facility, which will treat the sodium from Phénix and other CEA installations, progressed in 2023 and the operating tests prior to commissioning, planned for 2028, are continuing. In 2023, under the optimisation of the waste management routes and pursuant to article 3.1.3 of ASN resolution 2015-DC-0508 of 21 April 2015 amended, ASN authorised the disposal of the two motors taken from potential nuclear waste production zones of the Phénix installation via a conventional route as non-radioactive waste. ASN also authorised Phénix to modify its baseline safety requirements to integrate a methodology for the radiological characterisation of the premises with a view to their radiological delicensing. The reference scenario which is used to set the decommissioning schedule for the facility, defined in the Decommissioning Decree of June 2016, is currently being redefined by the licensee, in line with the decommissioning strategy for all the CEA facilities. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of Phénix is broadly satisfactory, particularly regarding the organisation in place for monitoring occupational radiation protection and the involvement of the facility’s teams to ensure that the commitments made further to inspections, significant events and the previous period safety review are met. The conditions of intervention of the local safety organisation in incident situations must nevertheless be clarified to improve the response times. Diadem facility – CEA centre The Diadem facility, currently under construction, shall be dedicated to the storage of containers of radioactive waste emitting beta and gamma radiation, or waste rich in alpha emitters, pending construction of facilities for the disposal of long-lived waste (LLW), or low- and intermediate-level shortlived waste (LL/ILW-SL) whose characteristics – especially the dose rate – mean they cannot be accepted as-is by the existing disposal facilities. ASN considers that the CEA’s efforts to fulfil its responsibilities as nuclear licensee are effective and satisfactory, particularly through it taking over project management. Changes are currently being made in the project organisation and should be effective in early 2024. ASN emphasises that this facility is destined to play a key role in the CEA’s overall decommissioning and waste management strategy, and that it is the only facility planned for the interim storage of the waste packages it is to receive. The CEA filed a request to modify the Creation Authorisation Decree in 2021 further to change in the package closure technology. It also filed its commissioning authorisation application file for the facility in 2021. These files are currently being examined. The CEA also informed ASN in 2023 that it wishes to file a request to push back the facility commissioning deadline. The CEA must maintain the efforts it is devoting to management of the worksite and the works still to be carried out. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of the CEA Marcoule centre remains satisfactory on the whole. ASN has noted an improvement in the measures implemented to track the monitoring of outside contractors, whose contracts are managed at the Marcoule centre. The organisation of the CEA Marcoule site response teams dedicated to fire-fighting is also satisfactory. In view of the large number of interventions carried out, ASN has asked the CEA to take measures to maintain a balance between the operational coverage of the centre and the requirements with regard to personnel training and maintaining skills. Transport preparation operations and maintenance of the packagings are duly carried out and monitored by the CEA. In 2020, the CEA submitted its study on the sanitary and environmental evaluation of the liquid and gaseous chemical discharges from the Marcoule platform. Through resolution CODEP-MRS-2023-013061 of 9 March 2023, ASN has required the CEA, in association with the other licensees of the Marcoule platform installations, to have an independent organisation perform a third-party assessment concerning the evaluation of the impact on health and the environmental caused by the liquid and gaseous discharges from all the nuclear activities on the Marcoule site. A contract with a third-party expert is currently being concluded. The technical-economic study of the measures to avoid or reduce the discharge of potentially polluted stormwater, and therefore their impact on the environment, was submitted to ASN in late 2020. The licensee finalised deployment of the measures adopted following the study in 2022. ASN expects the licensee to give it feedback on concerning effectiveness. With regard to the conformity of the emergency management building - baptised “Centralised Surveillance of Marcoule” (SCM) – with the requirements of the hardened safety core defined further to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP (Japan) to guarantee the capability of certain items of equipment to fulfil their functions in the face of extreme hazards, a letter requesting complementary information on its accessibility and habitability was sent to the CEA in March 2023. ASSESSMENT OF THE CEA MARCOULE CENTRE 84 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2023 Regional overview of nuclear safety and radiation protection • OCCITANIE •
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