ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2024

The French Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection presents its report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2024.

This report is required by Article L. 592-31 of the Environment Code.

It was submitted to the President of the Republic,  the Prime Minister and the Presidents of the Senate and the National Assembly and  transmitted to the Parliamentary Office for the  Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices, pursuant to the above-mentioned Article.
 

Maintaining a high level of rigorous nuclear safety and radiation protection in an ambitious context

The safety level of the nuclear facilities was satisfactory in 2024, with considerable mobilisation around the performance of the fourth periodic safety reviews of the 900 Megawatts electric (MWe) reactors, stabilised production levels in the Melox plant and efforts by the industrial sector to improve manufacturing quality. In the medical field, the level of radiation protection is also considered to be satisfactory, despite some points warranting particular vigilance.

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At a time when nuclear energy is set to be a key component of the French energy system for the long-term, the French Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ASNR) recalls that:

• anticipation is required in order to take decisions informed by the best knowledge and underpinned by a questioning attitude that is attentive to weak signals;
• the long-term future of the facilities must aim for the best safety standards, including by comparison with the projects for more modern facilities that will be replacing them;
• physical and time margins must be maintained to be able to deal with contingencies without compromising safety.

A strategy to examine the service life extension of the reactors is deployed on the occasion of the fourth and fifth periodic safety reviews and in anticipation of the possible continued operation beyond then. This strategy enabled these examinations to be industrialised. The launch of studies into the long-term future and upgrading of the fuel plants is a positive point with respect to the aim of balancing the “cycle”. With the up-turn in the construction of new reactors and new fuel plants, highly active innovation in the medical sector, or Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), as well as new prospects for service life duration, the nuclear safety and radiation protection stakeholders must meet new challenges: acquisition of new knowledge, dissemination of the safety and radiation protection culture to all the stakeholders, including in the subcontracting chain, mobilisation of resources and skills on behalf of nuclear safety and radiation protection, at a time of extreme competition for resources.

ASN, and now ASNR, are adapting to this new context. After the passage of Act 2024-450 of 21 May 2024 ratifying the merger of the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) with the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), the collective preparation work enabled ASNR to be immediately operational on 1 January 2025, with respect to all of its missions. ASNR covers research, expert assessment, examination and oversight, and comprises a full range of disciplines and skills ranging from the acquisition of knowledge, to decision-making and regulation/oversight. It is more independent, more robust and more visible, in France and internationally. The coming months will enable its organisation to be consolidated, enable ASNR to establish itself within its ecosystem, and gradually build an integrated strategy for research, expert assessment, oversight and transparency, and dialogue with society.