CHOOZ NUCLEAR POWER PLANT The Chooz NPP operated by EDF is situated in the municipality of Chooz, 60 km north of Charleville‑Mézières, in the Ardennes département. The site accommodates the Ardennes NPP, called “Chooz A”, comprising reactor A (BNI 163), operated from 1967 to 1991, for which the final shutdown and decommissioning operations were authorised by Decree 2007‑1395 of 27 September 2007, and the Chooz B NPP, comprising two 1,450 MWe reactors (BNIs 139 and 144), commissioned in 2001. Reactors B1 and B2 in operation ASN considers that the performance of the Chooz B NPP with regard to nuclear safety and radiation protection is in line with ASN’s general assessment of the EDF plant performance. It moreover stands out positively with regard to the environment. ASN considers that the safety of operation of the facilities is satisfactory. Particular attention must nevertheless be paid to ensuring strict compliance with the reactor operational management documents and the checking of the activities carried out, as these two points have caused significant events. With regard to maintenance, ASN underlines the satisfactory management of the activities, which represented a lower work load than in the preceding years, given the restarting of the reactors after the repair of the pipes displaying stress corrosion cracking. With regard to occupational radiation protection, although the number of significant events remains low, ASN detected several weaknesses in the course of the year. They concern the monitoring of outside contractors, rigour in the implementation and monitoring of radiological protections, and the management of inspections involving industrial radiography. Furthermore, shortcomings in control of radiological cleanliness resulted in the contamination of several rooms. ASN noted the implementation of immediate corrective actions, but nevertheless urges the licensee to maintain its vigilance in view of the activities scheduled in 2024. ASN considers that the site’s environmental protection organisation is satisfactory, as in the preceding year. The licensee has in particular demonstrated a robust organisation for identifying, analysing and monitoring the few deviation situations encountered in 2023, notably in the areas of liquid pollution containment and control of discharges. Lastly the labour inspections revealed no problem situations. The subjects addressed are taken seriously by the employer, with the intention to make them progress. Reactor A undergoing decommissioning The work undertaken in 2023 was chiefly devoted to the treatment of contamination and removal of the waste present at the bottom of the reactor building pool, and the cleaning of the walls of said pool. Renovation work on the polar crane also began at the end of 2023. These activities are prerequisites for the reactor vessel lifting operations, scheduled as of 2024, followed by the vessel cutting up operations. The decommissioning work on the effluent treatment station equipment moreover continued. With regard to radiation protection, the inspection conducted in 2023 confirmed that the measures taken over the last few years to control the radiological cleanliness of the facilities and to protect the workers continue to improve the level of radiation protection on the site. Lastly, in December 2022 and July 2023 EDF submitted to ASN for approval the clean-up methodology files for the facility’s civil engineering structures in order to achieve the “final decommissioning state” required by the Decree of 27 September 2007. These files are currently being examined by ASN. The installations and activities to regulate comprise: • Basic Nuclear Installations: • the Cattenom NPP (4 reactors of 1,300 MWe), • the Chooz A NPP (1 reactor of 305 MWe undergoing decommissioning), • the Chooz B NPP (2 reactors of 1,450 MWe), • the Fessenheim NPP (2 reactors of 900 MWe in final shutdown status), • the Nogent-sur-Seine NPP (2 reactors of 1,300 MWe), • the CSA storage centre for short-lived low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LL/ILW-SL) located in Soulaines‑Dhuys in the Aube département; • the Cigéo geological disposal project for long-lived high- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (HL/ILW-LL); • small-scale nuclear activities in the medical sector: • 14 external-beam radiotherapy departments, • 5 brachytherapy departments, • 21 nuclear medicine departments, • 97 computed tomography scanners, • 80 centres performing fluoroscopy-guided interventional procedures, • some 2,100 medical and dental radiology centres; • small-scale nuclear activities in the industrial, veterinary and research sectors: • about 280 industrial and veterinary activities coming under the licensing system, • 24 companies exercising an industrial radiography activity, • about 50 research laboratories situated primarily in the universities of the region; • activities associated with the transport of radioactive substances. Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 ABSTRACTS – ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2023 57 Regional overview of nuclear safety and radiation protection • GRAND EST •
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