ANTICIPATING TECHNICAL QUESTIONS RAISED BY THE OPERATING LIFE OF THE REACTORS REMAINS A PRIORITY The law requires that every ten years, following the periodic safety review, ASN issue a position statement regarding the conditions for the continued operation of the nuclear facilities. Concerning the reactors, the fourth periodic safety review for each individual reactor is underway for the 900 Megawatts electric (MWe) reactors, and the generic review phase for the 1,300 MWe reactors has been started. As the fifth periodic safety review is too far into the future for any fundamental operating lifetime hypotheses to be incorporated into the energy policy for the 2040 time-frame and beyond, ASN asked EDF to conduct preliminary analyses of the ability of the reactors to continue to function beyond 50 years. At the Government’s request, ASN issued an opinion on June 2023 on the conclusions of EDF’s analysis, underlining the major technical subjects associated with an operating life of up to 60 years, along with the subjects to be addressed as priorities. Finally, going beyond this time-frame and on the basis of the work initiated by EDF, the main technical subjects requiring particular analysis, or even research and development, ahead of the periodic safety reviews, were identified in 2023, enabling continued reactor operations beyond 60 years to be envisaged. In 2026, ASN will issue a position statement on the conclusions of these EDF analyses which are expected at the end of 2024. ABSTRACTS – ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2023 3 Editorial by the Commission From left to right: Stéphanie GUÉNOT BRESSON, Commissioner Olivier DUBOIS, Commissioner Géraldine PINA, Commissioner Bernard DOROSZCZUK, Chairman Jean‑Luc LACHAUME, Commissioner
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