In July 2022, as part of the “DECAP” project for removing the araldite-encapsulated fuels from Pégase, the CEA submitted to ASN a request for authorisation to receive fuel cans stored in the perimeter of the Defence Basic Nuclear Installation (DBNI) of Cadarache, originating historically from the Pégase facility pool. In view of the justifications presented by the CEA concerning the impact on the Pégase facility decommissioning schedule, resolution CODEP-CLG-2017-006524 on the Pégase facility fuel removal operations was modified to allow the reception of these fuels, which took place in 2023. ASN considers the organisation of nuclear safety and radiation protection at the Pégase‑Cascad facility to be satisfactory on the whole. ASN’s oversight actions have highlighted that the Pégase shielded cell commissioning tests were correctly carried out and the deviations during this phase were duly remedied. ASN has nevertheless noted shortcomings in the process for reporting deviations by the outside contractors who participate in the manufacture of new Protection Important Components (PICs), particularly for deviations that occurred when performing services outside the BNI. In 2024, ASN will be particularly attentive to compliance with the commissioning schedule for the DECAP project and to the treatment of the first cans by this process. The implementation of the modifications in the methods of accepting fuels at Cascad, authorised by ASN, will also be examined. Cabri research reactor – CEA centre The Cabri reactor (BNI 24), created on 27 May 1964, is intended for conducting experimental programmes aiming to achieve a better understanding of the behaviour of nuclear fuel in the event of a reactivity accident. The reactor has been equipped with a pressurised water loop since 2006 in order to study the behaviour of the fuel at high combustion rates in accident situations of increasing reactivity in a Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR). Since January 2018, the CEA has been conducting a programme of tests called “CIP” (Cabri International Program), which began in the early 2000’s and necessitated substantial modification and safety upgrading work on the facility. The programmes of CIP tests and the electronic component irradiation tests continued in 2023. Alongside these tests, ASN examined the request for underwater repair of the hodoscope, which will finish the complete restoration of the reactor further to the discovery of defects in 2020. This repair will have to be carried out as soon as the ongoing test programme is completed, around the end of 2025. ASN’s examination of the periodic safety review continued in 2023. When compiling its safety review file, the licensee analysed the reactor components identified as requiring specific monitoring with regard to ageing of the facility. In 2024, ASN will be attentive to its operational application. Particular attention shall also be devoted to the long-term retention of the skills of the engineer teams in charge of operation and of the reactor operators. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of the Cabri facility is on the whole satisfactory. Furthermore, ASN is waiting for information from the CEA on the outlook for the reactor’s activity beyond the ongoing test programme. Rapsodie research reactor – CEA centre The Rapsodie reactor (BNI 25) is the first sodium-cooled Fast-Neutron Reactor (FNR) built in France. It operated from 1967 to 1978. A sealing defect in the reactor pressure vessel led to its final shutdown in 1983. Decommissioning operations were subsequently undertaken, but have been partially stopped further to a fatal accident in 1994 during the washing of a sodium tank. The fuel has been unloaded from the core and evacuated from the facility. Furthermore, a large part of the radioactive fluids and components have been removed, and the reactor vessel is contained. The reactor pool has been emptied, partially cleaned out and decommissioned and the waste containing sodium has been removed. The installations and activities to regulate comprise: • Basic Nuclear Installations: •the CEA Cadarache research centre which counts 21 civil BNIs, including the Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR) currently under construction, •the ITER installation construction site, adjacent to the CEA Cadarache centre, • the Gammaster industrial irradiator; • small-scale nuclear activities in the medical sector: •13 external-beam radiotherapy departments, •3 brachytherapy departments, •16 nuclear medicine departments, • 100 centres practising fluoroscopy-guided interventional procedures, • 92 computed tomography scanners, • some 8,200 medical and dental radiology devices; • small-scale nuclear activities in the industrial, veterinary and research sectors: •about 400 industrial and research centres, including 3 cyclotron particle accelerators and 21 companies with an industrial radiography activity, •some 600 veterinary surgeries or clinics practising diagnostic radiology; • activities associated with the transport of radioactive substances; • ASN-approved laboratories and organisations: • 3 laboratories approved for taking environmental radioactivity measurements, •4 organisations approved for measuring radon, •1 organisation approved for radiation protection controls. Chapter 7 p. 204 Chapter 8 p. 240 Chapter 9 p. 270 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2023 89 Regional overview of nuclear safety and radiation protection • PROVENCE-ALPES-CÔTE D’AZUR •
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