IRRS follow-up mission to France - October 2017

52 12. INTERFACEWITH NUCLEAR SECURITY 12.1. LEGAL BASIS 2014 MISSION RECOMMENDATIONS, SUGGESTIONS R16 Recommendation: The Government should consider to establish legal basis for: - Allocating responsibilities on security matters for BNI and ICPE facilities to ASN, so it is to be entitled to carry out both assessment and oversight activities related to safety-security interfaces. - Identifying the responsible authority for both authorization and control in relation to security of radioactive sources Changes since the initial IRRS mission Recommendation 16: Regarding the first part of the recommendation, the government did not decide to place ASN in charge of the security for BNIs and ICPE facilities. A department within the Ministry of Ecological and Solidary Transition (The Department of Nuclear Security (DSN) reporting to the General Secretary of the High Official for Defence and Security (HFDS)) has the responsibility for ensuring security of nuclear facilities and nuclear transports. To carry out both assessment and oversight activities related to safety-security interfaces, ASN works with the DSN, which validates the security studies prepared by nuclear operators. ASN and DSN regularly exchange pertinent information and organize periodic meetings where safety- security interfaces are examined. Discussions take place at two levels: - at the level of General Directorate of ASN and Deputy HFDS approximately every 6 months, - at the expert level through meetings of working groups in charge of safety-security interfaces (3 or 4 times a year) that also include IRSN participation. Information sharing between ASN and DSN will be better formalized when an update to an agreement dating back to 2005 is finalized (see S30). In practice, DSN and ASN are essentially operating as intended by this forthcoming convention on the organization of the Nuclear Safety Authority and the Security Authority to exchange on subjects related to security and nuclear safety. Regarding the second part of the recommendation, Ordinance n° 2016-128 of the 10 th of February 2016 allocates the following responsibilities regarding the security of radioactive sources: - Ministry of Defence is responsible for the security of radioactive sources that are used in defence facilities, - Ministry of Ecological and Solidary Transition is responsible for the security of radioactive sources in nuclear facilities that are authorized under the code of defence for the security of nuclear materials, - ASN is responsible for all the other radioactive sources, mainly in the industrial, research and medical fields. This Ordinance will soon be supplemented by a decree transposing the European Basic Safety Standards Directive and amending the Public Health Code, Environment Code, Defence Code, Mining and Homeland Security Code and the Labour Code. The ASN gave its opinion on this draft decree on February 23, 2017 (ASN Opinion No 2017-AV-0289). In preparation for assuming this responsibility, ASN has acquired additional staff to conduct the expected inspection and review