The ASN maintains monitoring measures in the region of Tricastin after the lifting of measures restricting water use

On the 21st of July 2008,  ASN proposed to the

Préfet

of Vaucluse, on the basis of IRSN technical advice and after the consultation of various State's departments, that restrictions on water use in the region of Tricastin imposed by the order of the

Préfet

of  July 11 2008 could be lifted on condition that the SOCATRI licensee implements comprehensive provisions for the monitoring of surface and ground waters until the end of August 2008.

To this end, the ASN Commission met on  July 22 2008 and took a decision requiring SOCATRI to implement an extended monitoring programme compared to the initial one required by the ASN decision of  July 11 2008. In particular, this programme induces the monitoring of individual drinking water wells with new measurement frequencies. It covers a large area located at the south of the SOCATRI facility and bounded on the east by the Canal Donzère – Mondragon, on the west by the Rhone and on the south by the cities of Bollene, La-Motte-du-Rhone and Mondragon.

ASN required IRSN to centralize all measurements made by different actors and to publish the results (mapping and measurement results are available on the IRSN website, www.irsn.fr).  IRSN is also responsible for alerting the ASN if any uranium concentration in waters crosses the threshold of WHO guideline (15> μg / L) so that public authorities can take appropriate steps.

To strengthen its knowledge of the impact of the Tricastin industrial zone on groundwater, ASN also asked AREVA to continue its study launched in 2007 on the contamination of groundwater by supplementing it with the results from the monitoring of individual drinking water wells.

ASN recalls that it imposes on all nuclear operators to respect the nuclear release standards and to implement measures to monitor the impact of their activities on the environment. ASN ensures, with its inspections and measurements performed by independent laboratories that licensees comply with regulation requirements.