The Prefect forwards, for information, the draft requirements and the presentation report to the Departmental Council for the Environment and for Health and Technological Risks (Coderst). It can also ask this Council for its opinion on the draft requirements. 2.3.4 Consultation: for ever wider and more varied participation of the various audiences ASN ensures that these consultations allow the public and the associations concerned to contribute, in particular by verifying the quality of the licensee’s files and by trying to develop the CLI’s resources so that they can express an opinion on these files. Digital technologies and citizen participation practices are bringing ASN to change the public consultation framework to ensure effective participation of the public in the decision-making process. 2.4 The information actors 2.4.1 High Committee for Transparency and Information on Nuclear Safety The High Committee for Transparency and Information on Nuclear Safety (HCTISN), created by the TSN Act, is a body that informs, discusses and debates on nuclear activities, their safety and their impact on human health and the environment. 4. The operating framework for the CLIs is defined by Articles L. 125-17 to L. 125-33 of the Environment Code and by Decree 2008-251 of 12 March 2008 relative to the CLIs for the BNIs, and by Decree 2019-190 of 14 March 2019 codifying the provisions applicable to BNIs, to the transport of radioactive substances and to transparency in the nuclear field. 5. In the current situation, only the ASN inspectors and the experts accompanying them have an enforceable right of access to the licensee’s facilities. This means that the consent of the licensee is necessary for observers from CLIs to participate in inspections. It can also deal with any issue concerning the accessibility of nuclear security information and propose any measures such as to guarantee or improve transparency. The HCTISN develops opinions and makes them public. It organises four plenary meetings per year, at which major topical subjects are presented and discussed: all the presentations are available at hctisn.fr. The ASN Chairman is a member of the High Committee; ASN sits on the board of the HCTISN in an advisory capacity, takes part in its various working groups and regularly provides information on the subjects on plenary session agendas. The two HCTISN groups, one devoted to the consultation on the fourth periodic safety review of the 900 and 1,300 MWe nuclear power reactors, the other to the consultation for the Cigéo project, continued their work in 2024. 2.4.2 Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety The Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) implements a policy of information and communication that is consistent with the objectives agreement signed with the State. The Energy Transition for Green Growth Act (called the “TECV Act) has obliged IRSN to render public the opinions it issues to the authorities who refer matters to it. Thus, since March 2016, IRSN publishes twice monthly on its website all the opinions it issues at the request of ASN. These opinions are the synthesis of the expert assessment carried out by IRSN in response to ASN’s referral. On subjects that prompt questions on the part of the public or the public actors, ASN and IRSN ensure that their statements are properly coordinated in order to guarantee coherent, clear and consistent information. Since 1 January 2025, these two bodies have been merged to form a single entity, ASNR. 2.4.3 Local Information or Monitoring Committees The Local Information or Monitoring Committees (CLIs) have a general mandate of monitoring, informing and consultation with regard to nuclear safety and radiation protection. They analyse the impacts of nuclear activities on the people and the environment within their scopes(4). ASN considers that the smooth functioning of the CLIs contributes to safety and it maintains a meaningful dialogue with them. It is attentive to ensuring that the CLIs are as fully informed as possible, including by attending their public meetings. In partnership with Anccli (see point 2.4.4), ASN fosters the networking of the CLI special advisors and gives the CLIs the necessary tools and assistance for them to provide reliable information to “layman” audiences. ASN assisted the CLIs at their request: on technical issues through its inspectors, and on questions of dissemination of information through its communication supervisors. The ASN‑IRSN exhibition is regularly made available to the CLIs. The ASN inspectors can also give the CLI representatives the opportunity to take part in inspections(5). They motivate the BNI licensees to facilitate CLI access to files of the procedures in which their opinion will be required, and encourage involving the CLIs in the preparation of emergency exercises. ASN considers that the development of a diversified range of expertise in the nuclear field is essential to enable the CLIs to base their opinions on expert assessments other than those carried out for the licensee or ASN itself. Anccli assists and supports the CLIs through its group of scientific experts. Some CLIs call upon external service providers to advise them concerning technical files on which they wish to take a stance. Consultation in the context of the Cigéo project review procedure In order to meet the expectations of societal participation in the Cigéo project, and consistently with the measures planned on this account by the 5th PNGMDR (French National Radioactive Materials and Waste Management Plan), ASN has deployed an unprecedented consultation method for the technical review process. Various stakeholders (about twenty organisations, including CLIs, Anccli and environmental protection associations) were thus consulted as part of IRSN’s review of the Cigéo creation authorisation application, with the aim of identifying their expectations relating to nuclear safety and radiation protection, so that they could be taken into account when framing the assessment of the file. Following this exercise, the IRSN referral project was modified, for example, to incorporate aspects related to addressing climate change issues. To guarantee the continuity of participation by society throughout the technical review process, consultation measures will also be taken when drafting the Advisory Committees of Experts (GPEs) referrals on the three previously mentioned topics, and the public will be regularly informed, notably after each meeting of these GPEs. This information will provide some answers to the expectations and question that will have been integrated in it. In keeping with this method, ASNR will organise a consultation on the preparation of the GPE referral with a view to its third meeting, scheduled for mid-2025. 192 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2024 Informing and involving the various audiences
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