The adoption of this Directive contributes to reinforcing nuclear safety within the EU, by making the Member States more accountable for the management of their spent fuels and their radioactive waste. This Directive is legally binding and covers all the aspects of spent fuel and radioactive waste management, from production through to long-term disposal. It reiterates the prime responsibility of the producers and the ultimate responsibility of each Member State to ensure the management of the waste produced on its territory, making sure that the necessary measures are taken to guarantee a high level of safety and to protect workers and the general public against the dangers of ionising radiation. It clearly defines the obligations regarding the safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste and requires that each Member State adopt a legal framework for safety issues, making provision for the creation of: ∙a competent regulatory authority with a status that guarantees its independence from the waste producers; ∙authorisation procedures involving authorisation applications examined on the basis of the safety cases required from the licensees. The Directive regulates the drafting of national spent fuel and radioactive waste management policies to be implemented by each Member State. More specifically, it requires each Member State to establish a legislative and regulatory framework designed to set up national programmes for the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. The Directive also contains provisions concerning transparency and participation of the public, the financial resources for management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, training, as well as obligations for self- assessment and regular peer reviews of the national framework and the competent regulatory authority. These aspects constitute major advances in reinforcing the safety and accountability of spent fuel and radioactive waste management in the EU. The Energy Transition for Green Growth Act of 2015 and the Ordinance of 10 February 2016 ensured that the provisions of the Directive were transposed into French law. 2.4 The European Euratom Directive on Radiation Protection “Basic Standards” Directive 2013/59/Euratom of 5 December 2013 on Radiation Protection Basic Standards applies to the justification, optimisation and limitation of doses, regulatory control, preparedness for emergency situations, training and other related fields (for example the radon risk, naturally occurring radioactive substances and construction materials). The modifications made in 2016 and 2018 to the Defence, Environment, Public Health and Labour Codes, allowed its transposition into French law. 2.5 The European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) ENSREG – the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group – was created in 2008 and brings together experts delegated by the Member States of the EU, with the aim of supporting the EC in its legislative initiatives in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection. ENSREG helped bring about a political consensus in the drafting of European Directives on nuclear safety and the management of spent fuel and waste. ENSREG also took part in the process to revise the Nuclear Safety Directive, following on from the assessment and analysis of the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident. The activities of ENSREG are underpinned by three working groups, devoted to installations safety and international cooperation (WG1), the safe management of radioactive wastes and spent fuels (WG2) and transparency in the nuclear field (WG3) respectively. ASN contributes to the work done by each of them. In accordance with the Safety Directive of 2014, ENSREG organises European thematic peer reviews. The first of these exercises, which began in 2017, concerned the management of nuclear reactor ageing and, with regard to France, ended with the publication of the closing report in 2021. Work on the second thematic peer review concerning the protection of nuclear facilities against fire risks continued in 2024, with peer review of the national assessment reports, including that from France. Two seminars, held in Luxembourg, were a forum for discussions on best practices and identifying areas for improvement in each country. The peer review will come to an end in 2025 with the drafting of reports (Summary Report and Country Review Report) which will enable each country to draw up its national action plan. 2.6 The European Community Urgent Radiological Information Exchange system (ECURIE) ECURIE, the European Community Urgent Radiological Information Exchange system, is one of the rapid action systems set up by the EC, which has an information exchange network for receiving and triggering an alert and thus for rapidly circulating information within the EU in the event of a radiological emergency. This system was put into place by a Decision of the EU Council of 14 December 1987, notably in the wake of the Chernobyl (Ukraine) NPP accident in 1986. This Decision was ratified by all the EU Member States and a certain number of third-party countries, such as Switzerland and Turkey. Within this context, ASN takes part in the “ECUREX” exercises organised by the EC. In 2024, ASN took part in one exercise of this type (see chapter 4). 2.7 The Western European Nuclear Regulators’ Association (WENRA) The Western European Nuclear Regulators’ Association (WENRA) was created in 1999 at the initiative of ASN and its current members are the 19 heads of the safety regulators of the European countries with experience in electricity generating reactors. It is open to 13 other countries with associate member (3 regulators) or observer (10 regulators) status. After being chaired from 2019 to 2023 by Olivier Gupta, ASN Director General, WENRA is now chaired by Mark Foy, Director General and Chief Nuclear Inspector of the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), the United Kingdom’s nuclear safety regulator. Considering that the national safety regulators, in the light of their experience and their practical familiarity with the installations, are better placed than the EC to set the technical rules applicable to the nuclear installations in Europe, WENRA defined as its primary mission the voluntary harmonisation of the national regulations of its members, aiming for the highest level of safety that is reasonably achievable. To achieve this, WENRA developed “safety reference levels” for each technical topic, based on the most recent IAEA safety standards. Subject to peer review, the WENRA members then examine whether these reference levels are indeed included in the regulations of their country, and modify them if not. Work has also been started to compare the procedures for actually implementing these reference levels in the nuclear installations. This voluntary harmonisation approach is the only one of its kind internationally and constitutes one of the specificities of WENRA within the international organisations. To carry out its work, WENRA draws on three working groups, each with competence in a field of nuclear safety: ∙the Reactor Harmonisation Working Group (RHWG); ∙the Working Group on Radioactive Waste and Decommissioning (WGWD); ∙the Working Group on Research Reactors (WGRR). ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2024 199 International relations 06 01 02 03 04 05 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 AP
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