As part of its continuous improvement policy, ASN encourages the exchange and integration of best practices used by other inspection organisations: ∙by organising international exchanges of inspectors between Safety Authorities, either for the duration of one inspection or for longer periods that could extend to a secondment of up to several years. Thus, after having observed its advantages, ASN has adopted the concept of the joint inspections described earlier. However, it did not opt for the system involving a resident inspector on a nuclear site, as ASN considers that its inspectors must work within a structure large enough to allow experience to be shared and that they must take part in inspections of different licensees and facilities in order to acquire a broader view of this field of activity. This choice also allows greater clarity in the exercise of the respective responsibilities of the licensee and the inspector; ∙by welcoming inspectors trained in other inspection practices. ASN encourages the integration into its departments of inspectors from other regulatory authorities, such as the Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing (Dreal), ANSM, Regional Health Agencies (ARS), etc. It also proposes organising joint inspections with these authorities on activities falling within their common areas of competence; ∙by organising the participation of its staff in inspections on subjects in different regions and fields, notably to promote the uniformity of its practices. Each ASN inspector in a particular region takes part every year in at least one inspection performed in a different region. Table 3 (see previous page) presents the headcount of inspectors, which stood at 332 on 31 December 2024. Some inspectors operate in several inspection fields, and all the operational entity heads and their deputies fulfil both managerial and inspection functions. Most of the inspections are carried out by inspectors assigned to the regional divisions, who represent 51% of the ASN inspectors. The 164 inspectors assigned to the departments take part in ASN inspections within their field of competence; they represent 49% of the inspector headcount and carried out about 20% of inspections in 2024, with most of their work being the examination of files. As previously mentioned, ASN continuously improves the efficiency of its oversight by targeting and modulating its inspections according to the scale of the implications for the protection of persons and the environment. In 2024, the ASN inspectors carried out a total of 1,813 inspections, representing 4,116 inspection man.days in the field. About 1% of the inspections were carried out remotely. The breakdown per area of activity is shown in Table 4 (see previous page). ASN inspections programme To guarantee a distribution of the inspection resources with a graded approach to the safety and radiation protection implications of the various facilities and activities, ASN drafts a forecast inspections schedule every year, taking account of the inspection implications (see point 3.1). The results of the year’s priority actions are presented in the specific chapters for nuclear installations and activities. For example, a campaign of inspections on systems configuration management and a campaign of inspections on management of a reactor accident with core melt (see box page 308 of chapter 10) were carried out in 2024, along with continuation of a campaign of inspections on stress corrosion of the auxiliary lines (see box page 304 of chapter 10). This schedule is not communicated to the licensees or to those in charge of nuclear activities. ASN monitors the performance of the programme and the follow-up given to the inspections, through periodic reviews. This follow-up enables the inspected activities to be assessed and contributes to the continuous improvement of the inspection process. Information relative to the inspections ASN informs the public of the steps taken following the inspections by posting the inspection follow-up letters on-line, on asn.fr. Moreover, after each in-depth inspection, ASN publishes an information notice on asn.fr. 3.1.3 Inspection of Basic Nuclear Installations and Pressure Equipment In 2024, 2,438 inspector.days were devoted to the on-site field inspection of BNIs and NPE, corresponding to 878 inspections. Of these, 20% were unannounced. Furthermore, eight inspections were conducted remotely. Inspection work in the field can be broken down into 1,268 inspector.days in the NPPs (428 on-site inspections), 777 inspector.days in the other BNIs (311 on-site inspections), that is mainly the “fuel cycle” facilities, research facilities and installations undergoing decommissioning, and 393 for NPE (139 on-site inspections). The remote inspections can be broken down as follows: 5 inspections for the NPPs, none for the other BNIs and 3 inspections for NPE. Two joint inspections were performed in 2024 on the Dampierre-en-Burly NPP, as well as on CEA’s Saclay site, which corresponds to 58 inspector.days on-site. The ASN labour inspectors also carried out 436 interventions during the 158 inspection days in the NPPs. TABLE 5 Breakdown of on-site inspection days by topic in 2024 Per Field Number of Inspector.days Number of on-site inspections performed Basic Nuclear Installation /Pressurised water reactor 1,268 428 Basic Nuclear Installation/Laboratories plants waste and decommissioning 777 311 Basic Nuclear Installation/Pressure Equipment 393 139 Small-scale nuclear activities/Industry 494 288 Small-scale nuclear activities/Medical 739 364 Small-scale nuclear activities/Natural radioactivity 34 31 Small-scale nuclear activities/Polluted sites and grounds 7 4 Small-scale nuclear activities/Research 89 47 Small-scale nuclear activities/Veterinary 34 22 Small-scale nuclear activities/Other 8 5 Transport of radioactive substances 146 90 Approved Organisations/Approved laboratories 127 69 Total(*) 4,116 1,798 * The fact that the various numbers are rounded off gives a total slightly different from the sum of each line. 154 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2024 Regulation of nuclear activities and exposure to ionising radiation
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