Les cahiers de l'ASN #03 - 10 years after Fukushima

IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency, an inter-governmental organisation created in 1957, which is part of the United Nations Organisation. Its role is to foster and promote the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies worldwide. CEA – French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission. Active in research, development and innovation in the fields of energy, defence, information technologies and health. ICRP – The International Commission for Radiological Protection is a non‑governmental organisation issuing recommendations for the measurement of exposure to ionising radiation and for radiation protection provisions. Codirpa – Steering committee for managing the post-accident phase of a nuclear accident or radiological emergency situation. Corium – Mass of molten fuels and nuclear reactor core structural elements mixed together, which could form in the event of a severe accident. Fuel cycle – Begins with the extraction of uranium ore and ends with packaging of the various radioactive wastes from the spent fuels so that they can be sent for disposal. ECS – Acronym for the French stress tests decided on after the Fukushima accident (Japan) in 2011 for French nuclear facilities. EDF – Électricité de France – licensee of the French NPP fleet. Framatome – Nuclear steam system supply designer and manufacturer supplying equipment, services and fuel. ENSREG – European Nuclear Safety REgulators Group (high-level European Union group on nuclear safety and waste management – formerly GHN). Euratom – European Atomic Energy Community, created in 1957. FARN – Nuclear rapid intervention force (CEA; EDF). FINA – National intervention force of the licensee Orano HCTISN – The High Committee for Transparency and Information on Nuclear Safety (created by the 13 June 2006 Act). HERCA – Heads of European Radiation Control Authorities: Created in 2007 at the initiative of ASN, brings together all the European radiation protection oversight authorities BNI – Basic Nuclear Installation: Installation which, due to its nature or the quantity or activity of the radioactive substances it contains, is governed by a particular regulatory system, defined by the Environment Code and the Order of 7 February 2012. INES – International Nuclear Event Scale: international scale of nuclear and radiological events, graded from 0 to 7 in increasing order of severity. Institut Laue-Langevin – International research organisation specialising in neutron sciences and technologies, located in Grenoble. IRSN – French Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety. The IRSN is an industrial and commercial public establishment. The IRSN notably acts as ASN’s technical advisory body. ITER Organization – International organisation for nuclear fusion energy operating the ITER reactor currently under construction in the Bouches-du-Rhône département* . Hardened safety core – Material and organisational provisions designed to prevent an accident with core melt, or limit its spread, despite heavily degraded conditions. Orano (ex-Areva NP) – Player active throughout the fuel cycle, from raw materials up to waste reprocessing. PPI – Off-site emergency plan: local system defined in France to protect the population, property and the environment, to deal with particular risks related to the existence of an industrial facility. RBMK – Soviet designed high-power, pressure tube nuclear reactor used in the Chernobyl NPP. RHF – High-flux reactor in Grenoble, operated by the Laue‑Langevin Institute (ILL). It is a 58-MW heavy-water high-flux neutron reactor which produces high‑intensity thermal neutron beams for fundamental research, particularly in the areas of solid-state physics, neutron physics and molecular biology. WENRA – Created in 1999, WENRA (Western European Nuclear Regulators’ Association) brings together the heads of the nuclear safety authorities of the 18 European countries equipped with nuclear power reactors. Zirconium – Zirconium is a metal that is particularly resistant to corrosion at high temperatures. It is thus used in the form of an alloy to fabricate nuclear fuel assemblies (grids, tubes, guides, etc.). GLOSSARY * Administrative region headed by a Prefect 24 • Les cahiers de l’ASN • March 2021