Without ever deviating from its fundamental principles, ASN has always sought to adapt its oversight to the challenges of the moment. refocused its inspections on the activities with greater implications. This necessary proportionality with the stakes is not always understood with respect to the large nuclear installations, as any subject concerning a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) could be seen as being important: this sometimes creates a distortion between the actual issues and the media coverage. However, in the interests of safety, realism and pragmatism dictate that the proportionate approach should continue to be used and that it should even be taken further in the coming years. Reinforced technical dialogue Contrary to popular belief, f rench nuclear safety regulations are not particularly voluminous and are focused on the objectives to be achieved: only rarely do they specify means requirements. They have the advantage of allowing each licensee to define the most appropriate provisions and do not stand in the way of innovation. Nuclear safety is not therefore built around the regulations, but more on an in-depth technical dialogue between the licensee and ASN, with the support of its Advisory Committees of Experts and the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN). Between 2018 and 2022, ASN deployed a plan to reinforce its control of technical examinations and its involvement in this dialogue, placing technical considerations at the heart of its decisions and resolutions. However, it is clear that over the years, the way in which the regulations are applied has become more complex, and the technical dialogue has led to a multiplication of the internal rules drafted by the licensees, to the extent that they have become hard to apply or have even lost part of their meaning for the operatives in the f ield. One of the challenges for the coming years will be to control this inflation in the number of rules. Public participation in the drafting of decisions Public involvement in the process of drafting decisions and resolutions opens up an area for dialogue, not only on the protection objectives but also on how they are to be technically achieved by the licensee. This involvement must lead to a lasting improvement in the understanding of the issues, increase trust in the decision-making process and, whenever possible, enhance it by making it possible to comprehend the questions considered to be priorities by the stakeholders and provide answers to them. Together with IRSN, ASN thus set up technical dialogue and consultation sessions on key subjects such as the fourth periodic safety reviews for the NPPs, or the densif ication project for the spent fuel storage pools at La Hague. Olivier GUPTA ABSTRACTS – ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2021 9 EDITORIAL BY THE DIRECTOR GENERAL
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