ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION For the year 2021, control of the detrimental effects and impact of the Orano sites on the environment is on the whole satisfactory. The measures to prevent spillage/leaks and the environmental dispersal of radioactive or hazardous liquid substances, including those liable to result from actions taken to combat a possible incident, must still be improved. With regard to protection of the ozone layer, ASN took enforcement measures against Orano in 2021, owing to the lack of forward planning in the replacement of certain automatic f ire extinguishing installations containing halon. INDIVIDUAL FACILITY ASSESSMENTS The ASN assessments of each nuclear facility are detailed in the Regional Overview in this report. CEA ASN considers that the safety of the facilities operated by the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) remains on the whole satisfactory. CEA must nonetheless clarify its vision regarding the continued operation of some of the older facilities. It must also reinforce its project management, notably for those projects concerning the decommissioning of definitively shut down facilities, or the retrieval and conditioning of legacy waste. The emergency situation management organisation also needs to be improved. MANAGEMENT OF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION ASN considers that CEAmust remain vigilant in ensuring that all the nuclear safety and radiation protection aspects are correctly taken into account at all levels of the organisation and are led by people who have the necessary resources, skills and authority. ASN asked CEA to propose a strategic vision for the management of nuclear safety and radiation protection. This roadmap must be based on an analysis of feedback from the numerous organisational changes made in recent years, present an evaluation of the policy to protect CEA’s interests, describe its strategy for guaranteeing the availability of rare and critical skills in the light of the safety issues and draw on the observations made by its internal general inspectorate. ASN considers that the implementation of “major safety commitments”, managed at the highest level and enabling the most important nuclear safety and radiation protection issues to be monitored, is on the whole satisfactory. It will be necessary to ensure that the reduction in resources allocated to CEA has no impact on its ability to meet other commitments. FACILITIES IN OPERATION Faced with the ageing of the facilities in operation and the uncertainty surrounding the projects to replace some of them, CEA developed a medium/long-term strategy in 2019 concerning the utilisation of its experimental civil nuclear research facilities and its waste and materials management facilities. ASN f inds that uncertainties remain regarding the continued operation of some of the older facilities. ASN considers that CEA must precisely clarify the options adopted (abandon or optimise operation, works to be carried out, etc.). FACILITIES UNDERGOING DECOMMISSIONING ASN f inds that, despite CEA’s clear intention to carry out facilities decommissioning and RCD operations, this licensee is experiencing major difficulties in handling all these complex projects at the same time. ASN notes that CEA’s annual budget to f inance provisions for nuclear costs is limited. If it wishes to f inance unexpected spending for priority projects, this budgetary constraint could cause CEA to smooth the budget for lower priority projects, thus delaying their performance schedules. In 2021, ASN found that certain deadlines were thus pushed back by several decades, even though they concern ordinary decommissioning projects, based on sound operating experience feedback (notably the decommissioning of the research reactors). ASN also notes substantial changes to the priority projects, with numerous postponements, scope reductions or even some projects being abandoned. RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT ASN f inds that the management of radioactive waste in the CEA facilities is satisfactory, even though the situation differs from one facility to another. Although progress was observed on certain facilities, notably with regard to the updating of procedures and waste inventories, the situation in other facilities is more contrasted. CEAmust remain vigilant with respect to the storage conditions for its waste (operation of collection areas, demarcation and signage), the pertinence of and compliance with waste zoning and tracking of the radioactive waste produced in the facilities. In 2020, ASN noted that the provisions of the protocol between the National Radioactive Waste Management Agency (Andra) and CEA regarding Andra’s monitoring of CEA waste packages liable to be disposed of in Cigéo were overly restrictive of Andra’s scope of action and therefore failed to fully meet the provisions of ASN resolution 2017-DC-0587. Even though progress was observed in 2021, ASN will remain attentive to this subject in 2022. THE CONFORMITY OF THE FACILITIES ASN recognised the efforts made by CEA to improve the conformity of the facilities on the occasion of the periodic safety reviews. This trend must be maintained in the coming years, so that CEA is able to comply with the schedule for implementation of the actions it has identif ied. 16 ABSTRACTS – ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2021 ASN ASSESSMENTS PER LICENSEE AND BY ACTIVITY SECTOR
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