ASN Report 2017

111 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Chapter 03  - Regulations With regard to Nuclear Pressure Equipment (NPE), AFCEN together with ASN is continuing sustained work to update its codes (RCC-M in particular) under a programme of work which will be completed at the end of 2018 and which aims to offer the entire sector improved control of regulatory requirements and equipment manufacturing. 3.3 Plant authorisation decrees and commissioning licenses Chapter III of Title IX of Book V of the Environment Code contains a BNI creation authorisation procedure, followed by a number of licensing operations throughout its operating life, from its commissioning up to final shutdown and decommissioning, including any modifications made to the facility. 3.3.1 Safety options Any industrial concern intending to operate a BNI may, even before starting the creation authorisation application procedure, ask ASN for an opinion on all or part of the safety options it has adopted for its installation. The applicant is notified of the ASN opinion and will produce any additional studies and justifications as necessary for a possible creation authorisation application. The safety options will then be presented in the creation authorisation application file, in a preliminary version of the safety analysis report. This preparatory procedure in no way exempts the applicant from the subsequent regulatory examinations but simply facilitates them. 3.3.2 Public debate Pursuant to Articles L. 121-8 et seq. of the Environment Code, the creation of a BNI is subject to a public debate procedure when dealing with a new nuclear power generation site or a new site (other than for nuclear power generation) costing more than €300 million and, in certain cases, a new nuclear power generation site, or a new site (other than for nuclear power generation) costing between €150 million and €300 million (Articles R. 121-1 and R. 121-2 of this same Code). The public debate looks at the need and suitability, objectives and characteristics of the project. 3.3.3 The Creation Authorisation The creation authorisation application for a BNI is filed with the Minister responsible for Nuclear Safety by the industrial concern which intends to operate the facility, which thus acquires the status of licensee. The application is accompanied by a file comprising several items, including the detailed drawing of the installation, the impact assessment, the preliminary version of the safety analysis report, the risk management study and the decommissioning plan. ASN is responsible for reviewing the file, jointly with the Minister responsible for Nuclear Safety. This is followed by a period of parallel consultation of the public and technical experts. The BNI creation project is subject to an “environmental assessment, [which] is a process consisting of the drafting, by the Owner, of a report assessing the consequences for the environment, […] “impact assessment”, holding of consultations [with the environmental authority as well as with local authorities and their groups interested by the project] , as well as the examination by the authority with competence for authorising the project of all the information presented in the impact assessment and received within the framework of the consultations and from the Owner.” (III of Article L. 122-1 of the Environment Code) The file presenting the project and comprising the impact assessment and authorisation application is submitted for approval to the environmental authority group of the General Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development, as well as to the local authorities and their groups concerned by the project. The public inquiry Article L.593-8 of the Environment Code stipulates that the authorisation can only be granted after holding a public inquiry. The purpose of the inquiry is to inform the public and collect their opinions, suggestions and counterproposals, in such a way as to provide the competent authority with all the elements necessary for it then to make an informed decision. The inquiry is carried out in accordance with the provisions of Articles L. 123-1 to L. 123-18 and R. 123-1 to R. 123-27 of the Environment Code. The Prefect opens the public inquiry at least in each of the communities of which any part is situated less than five kilometres from the perimeter of the installation. This inquiry lasts from a minimum of one month to a maximum of two months (except if the inquiry is suspended or in the event of an additional inquiry). The dossier submitted by the licensee in support of its authorisation application is made available in the public inquiry dossier. The safety analysis report (document containing the inventory of the risks the installation can present, the analysis of the measures taken to prevent these risks and a description of the measures designed to limit the probability of accidents and their effects) is supplemented by a risk control study, which itself comprises a non-technical summary of this study designed to make it easier to understand. Since 1st January 2017, pursuant to the provisions of Article L. 123-12 of the Environment Code, the “public inquiry file is placed on-line for the duration of the inquiry. It remains open for consultation, for this same period, on paper in one or more places determined as of opening of the public inquiry. Free access to the file is also guaranteed on one or more computer terminals in a place open to the public” . Construction of a BNI requires the issue of a building permit by the Prefect, according to procedures specified in Articles R*. 421-1 et seq. and Article R*. 422-2 of the Town Planning Code. Article L. 425-12 of the Town Planning Code states that “when the project concerns a basic nuclear installation requiring creation authorisation pursuant to Article L. 593-7 of the Environment Code […], the work may not be performed before the closure of the public inquiry held prior to this authorisation.”