ASN has begun to consider the future challenges and the changes for which it must begin to prepare In conjunction with the internal analysis work, ASN conducted an “external consultation” to collect the viewpoints of its main interlocutors. Four main issues were identified by this preliminary work. First of all, ASN will have to oversee a fleet of installations and nuclear activities undergoing a period of transition, given that many of them are faced with the question of their continued operation and consequently the need to plan ahead for their shutdown. Projects for new facilities to replace some of the older ones, in addition to the construction work already in progress, means that ASN will have to oversee a number of new facilities (under design or under construction) unlike anything that has been seen for some considerable time: the Jules Horowitz research reactor, ITER, the Cigéo waste disposal repository, the spent fuel centralised storage pool, and possibly a number of EPR2 reactors or Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). ASN must prepare for this, so that it can examine the corresponding requests without delay and without compromising on safety. In the medical field, the major challenges are linked to questions of organisation and competence in a context of pressure in terms of staffing levels: as in the nuclear installations, social, organisational and human factors issues are predominant and ASN must further reinforce its skills and its oversight methods in this field. A new challenge is the demand from our fellow citizens for the State to be more willing to listen and to explain. In the fields of risk management, it is clear that better results are obtained when the State encourages everyone to be a contributor to their own safety. This implies good understanding of the measures taken: strict policing alone is no longer suff icient and the activity managers, decision-makers and local players must truly take on board the nuclear safety and radiation protection issues. At an international level, a key aspect of the coming period is geopolitical change. On the one hand, the nuclear centre of gravity is shifting towards Asia. On the other, some countries are preferring a national approach and the Covid-19 pandemic made international exchanges more diff icult. ASN, together with its European partners, will have to redouble its efforts to ensure that there is an ambitious vision for nuclear safety internationally. Finally, ASN must continue to adapt its operating methods in order to remain attractive, and acquire skills to address the new challenges. * Many changes have been made in recent years to adapt both ASN and its oversight to the context, itself in a constant state of flux. The Covid-19 pandemic crisis, which weighed heavily on the ASN personnel in the same way as all our fellow citizens over the past two years, did not stop ASN f rom issuing the most urgent decisions in good time, nor from conducting examinations and inspections which attracted less media coverage, but which constitute the basis of its work and underpin the credibility of its oversight. I wish to thank all the ASN personnel for their commitment and indeed al l the personnel of IRSN and the members of ASN’s Advisory Committees of Experts, whose expertise is of valuable assistance during our examination work. Preparing ASN for the oversight of new installations, ensuring that the nuclear safety and radiation protection challenges are addressed with suff icient forward planning and that all the actors involved take them on board, guaranteeing a high level of safety in Europe and worldwide, attracting the talents we need: the ASN teams will be capable of stepping up and tackling all these new challenges. n ABSTRACTS – ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2021 11 EDITORIAL BY THE DIRECTOR GENERAL
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