certain priority projects, the licensee updated its strategy in 2016. ASN examined this strategy and, following discussions with the licensee, observed progress in the assimilation of the objectives of immediate dismantling, monitoring the governance of complex projects(1), progress in the operations on several installations at Tricastin, and the definition of final waste conditioning processes for the La Hague site. However, ASN asks Orano to improve its strategy in the following four areas: 1. The implementation of the decommissioning and waste management strategy must be prioritised according to the risks (existing pollution or high dispersible inventory(2)). The construction of new effluent and waste conditioning, storage, transport and treatment capacity will be needed to enable this strategy to be implemented, given the existing weak points (storage facilities that do not meet current safety standards, uncertainties regarding the medium-term saturation of certain storage facilities, etc.); 2. The implementation of the clean-up strategy must be based on sufficient knowledge of the current state of the facilities, and more particularly the civil engineering structures and soils. If complete clean-out is not possible, an appropriate clean-out strategy taken as far as is reasonably achievable, taking account of the technical and economic feasibility of the measures, shall be deployed; 3. The implementation of the RCD strategy must be better managed and the dispersible inventory must be reduced as early as possible. The characterisation of the waste and qualification of the processes envisaged must be actively pursued in order to define the required processes and demonstrate their feasibility within a time-frame compatible with implementation of the RCD projects. The waste currently stored in temporary facilities and for which there is no operational solution or which requires preliminary treatment, shall be transferred as rapidly as possible to storage facilities compliant with current safety requirements; 4. The oversight of complex projects must be improved by analysing the causes of delays to the priority projects and by examining the adequacy of the resources devoted to these projects. ASN also underlines the need for the licensee to inform the public of the progress of its programmes. It is up to Orano to ensure that this strategy is implemented and to report on it regularly to ASN. Given the safety and radiation protection issues encountered, ASN very regularly checks progress, by means of dedicated investigations, inspections, technical meetings and a project oversight approach. Thanks to this heightened oversight, ASN adapts its methods for these high-stakes projects. Its intention is to transition from a “static” approach –in which the project completion deadline is set out in the regulations, often a long time in the future, and with calendar drift that is detected too belatedly– to a “dynamic” approach, focused on a precise analysis of the actions planned by the licensee over the coming 5 years. In this new approach, having strengthened its RCD projects programming and oversight methods, the licensee submits detailed schedules to ASN, including milestones for which it makes a binding commitment to ASN. This may consist of safety studies or studies to develop certain aspects of the project, placing of industrial contracts or the completion of actual physical steps in the progress of the project, such as the beginning of construction of new equipment. On the basis of this detailed 5-year programme, ASN will specify key milestones for this period and will check that they are reached. This sliding process will continue until the final waste retrieval and conditioning result is achieved. Read online Le Cahier de l’ASN #04 on french-nuclear-safety.fr 1. Creation of a major projects department, a procedure to evaluate project maturity and develop project progress monitoring tools. 2. Corresponds to the quantity of radiological activity that could be involved in an incident or accident. “Despite progress observed in its decommissioning strategy, ASN asks Orano to improve certain points.” ABSTRACTS – ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2021 29 NOTABLE EVENTS 2021
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