Les cahiers de l’ASN #02 - Conditions for the continued operation of EDF’s 900MWe reactors

The periodic safety review Why have periodic safety reviews? In France, the authorisation to create a nuclear facility is issued by the Government, after consulting ASN. This authorisation is issued for an unlimited duration, and the facility undergoes an in-depth “periodic safety review” every ten years to assess the conditions for continued operation of the facility for the following ten years. In the course of the periodic safety review, the licensee must ensure that the operation of the facility complies with the applicable safety rules and that the equipment ageing phenomena are adequately managed. The licensee must also improve the safety of its facility by bringing it closer to the levels achieved by the most recent facilities. How are they conducted? The periodic safety reviews of the 900MWe reactors are carried out in two complementary phases: a first “generic” phase common to all the reactors, as they are all designed to a similar model, and a second “specific” phase which takes into account the characteristics specific to each facility, particularly their geographical location. GENERIC GUIDELINES GENERIC REVIEW STUDIES GENERIC REVIEW CONSULTATION ON THE NRO *** , coordinated by the HCTISN**** ASN opinion on the EDF NRO***, provided for the consultation EDF review objectives response memorandum (NRO***) ASN position statement letter on the review objectives, further to the opinion of the IRSN*, the GPEs** and public consultation EDF generic guidelines file Proposed review objectives and programme GENERIC PHASE OF THE 40-YEAR PERIODIC SAFETY REVIEW 2019 2018 2017 2016 2013 2014 2015 4 th 10-yearly outage of the first reactor concerned (Tricastin 1) 2 • Les cahiers de l’ASN • February 2021 4 TH PERIODIC SAFETY REVIEW OF THE 900MW e REACTORS