News releases

All the news about nuclear safety and radiation protection

476 news

Published on 30/01/2013 at 10:30

Appointement of Dr. Jean-Christophe Niel

Jean-Christophe Niel, Director-General of the ASN, has been appointed Chair of the Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). This election took place during the 28th CNRA meeting which was held on 3-4 December 2012 at the NEA in the Paris area. Jean-Christophe Niel succeeds Mike Weightman, Chief Inspector of the British nuclear regulatory body (HSE/ONR).

Published on 29/01/2013 at 12:39

ASN decided to uprate as level 2 on the INES scale

On September 26th 2012, the company FBFC (subsidiary of AREVA) notified ASN of an event related to non-compliance with the requirements applicable to packaging, storage and on-site transfer of wet fissile materials within its nuclear fuel fabrication facility in Romans-sur-Isère (Drôme).

Published on 20/12/2012 at 13:15

European stress-tests: ASN publishes its national action plan

On 26 April 2012, one year after the Fukushima disaster, a joint statement by ENSREG and the European Commission concluded the stress tests conducted on the European nuclear power plants. This statement emphasised the need to establish a global action plan to make sure that these stress tests are followed by measures to improve safety, at national level in particular, and that these measures are implemented in a consistent manner. The conclusions of the European Council meeting of 28 and 29 June 2012 confirmed the wish to see the creation of such an action plan.

Published on 20/12/2012 at 11:56

Fessenheim: review of compliance with the ASN requirements

ASN regularly verifies compliance with all 40 requirements set for continued operation of Fessenheim reactor n°1. On 18 July and 11 December 2012, in particular, ASN carried out inspections on the site to ensure compliance with the requirements for which the deadline is imminent. ASN considers that the actions so far taken by the licensee to comply with its requirements are satisfactory.

Published on 30/11/2012 at 17:35

Meeting between Pierre-Franck Chevet & Yukiya Amano

Pierre-Franck Chevet, President of the Autorité de sûreté nucléaire (ASN), received Yukiya Amano, Director General of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) in the ASN Headquarters on 20 November, on the occasion of his two-day visit to Paris (19-20 November).

Published on 19/11/2012 at 18:57

First session of the ASN commission in its new configuration

On Monday 12 November 2012, Pierre-Franck Chevet, who is succeeding André-Claude Lacoste as ASN Chairman, and Margot Tirmarche, who is succeeding Marie-Pierre Comets as an ASN Commissioner, took part in an extraordinary session of the Commission expanded to include these two members.

Published on 14/11/2012 at 10:26

ASN Appointments

Pierre-Franck Chevet is appointed Chairman of ASN by decree of the President of the Republic dated 9 November 2012, for a period of 6 years. He succeeds André-Claude Lacoste who was appointed Chairman of ASN in 2006 and whose mandate expires on 12 November 2012. Margot Tirmarche is appointed ASN Commissioner by decree of the President of the Republic dated 9 November 2012, as the member designated by the President of the National Assembly, for a period of 6 years. She succeeds Marie-Pierre Comets, appointed ASN Commissioner in 2006 and whose mandate expires on 12 November 2012.

Published on 08/10/2012 at 17:26

EPR Reactor: Information Letter n°13

Since the end of 2011, ASN has conducted several inspections [link to inspection follow-up letters posted on line on asn.fr] that continue its monitoring of the construction of the Flamanville 3 EPR reactor and various other manufacturing operations for this reactor. The notable points observed over these last few months are detailed below.

Published on 05/10/2012 at 11:32

European Stress Tests

ASN notes the communication of the European Commission on Thursday October 4, 2012 on “stress tests” on nuclear power plants in Europe conducted after the Fukushima disaster claims to be based on the results published in the stress tests final report adopted on April 26, 2012. ASN regrets the working methodology used by the Commission for drawing its conclusions. These conclusions ignore some important recommendations of the stress-tests final report.

Published on 28/09/2012 at 17:31

ENSREG experts visit three French nuclear power plants

From 10 to 13 September 2012, the Chooz, Cattenom and Fessenheim nuclear power plants were visited by European experts under an ENSREG mandate. In France, ASN was responsible for supervising the organisation of these visits, which are part of the action plan adopted by ENSREG after the stress tests required by a decision of the European Council in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi accident of March 2011. The purpose of these follow-up visits was to examine the nationwide implementation of the measures identified after the European stress tests, which covered all NPPs in the Member States.

Published on 06/09/2012 at 09:10

Information on Fessenheim NPP event

On 5th September 2012, the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) was notified by EDF of an incident related to a gas release which occurred at around 15:00 in nuclear auxiliary buildings of the Fessenheim NPP.

Published on 31/08/2012 at 10:41

ASN's national action plan for management of the radon risk

ASN published the 2011-2015 national action plan for management of the radon risk. This document is the result of collaboration between ASN, the ministries responsible for health, housing and labour and the partner organisations (Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety - IRSN, French Health Monitoring Institute - InVS, Building Industry Scientific and Technical Centre - CSTB, Regional Council of the Limousin département). This second action plan follows on from the 2005-2008 plan, the results of which were published by ASN in 2009.