ASN Report 2017

119 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Chapter 03  - Regulations 4.2 National regulations Issued pursuant to Articles L. 1252-1 et seq. of the Transport Code, the Order of 29th May 2009 transposes into French law the various international modal regulations and gives the nuclear safety inspectors appointed by ASN powers to oversee the application of its provisions concerning the transport of radioactive substances. It also states that ASN is consulted with regard to the modifications made to the Order of 29th May concerning its scope of competence and is asked to sit on the Interministerial Committee for the Carriage of Dangerous Goods (CITMD). The Environment Code, more specifically its Article L. 595-1, and Article 62 of the implementing Decree of 2nd November 2007, state that ASN is the French Competent Authority to take licensing decisions and issue certificates for the carriage of radioactive substances. Pursuant to these provisions, the approvals required for the package models with the most significant potential consequences must be issued by ASN (see chapter 11). Article R. 1333-44 of the Public Health Code also requires that companies transporting radioactive substances in France be subject to either notification or licensing by ASN. On 12th March 2015, ASN issued a resolution (2015-DC-0503) creating a system of notification for companies transporting radioactive substances on French territory. This obligation entered into force in 2016. The notification is made on-line. 5. Requirements applicable to certain risks or certain particular activities 5.1 Sites and soils contaminated by radioactive substances The tools and the approach to be followed for management of contaminated sites and soils are described in detail in chapter 16. On 4th October 2012, ASN published a doctrine on the management of sites contaminated by radioactive substances based on several principles. These principles are applicable to all sites contaminated by radioactive substances. ASN’s prime objective is to achieve the most thorough cleanout possible, aiming for complete removal of the radioactive contamination to allow unrestricted use of the cleaned out premises and land. Nevertheless, when this objective cannot be technically and economically achieved, justification must be given and appropriate measures implemented to guarantee the compatibility of the site’s condition with its actual or planned use. The TECV Act brought about a number of changes in this area, in particular in the Ordinance of 10th February 2016: the Government created a system of active institutional controls relating to radioactive substances, as already exists for ICPEs and BNIs, when radioactive substances subsist on a plot of land or in a building (due to contamination by radioactive substances, after decontamination or in the presence of naturally radioactive materials) in order to maintain a record that will serve with regard to future uses and, where necessary, to define restrictions on use or prescriptions governing future development or demolition work. 5.2 ICPEs utilising radioactive substances Licensing by the Prefect, registration or simple notification is required for ICPEs depending on the scale of the hazards they represent. For installations requiring licensing, this license is issued by order of the Prefect following a public inquiry. The license comprises requirements which may be subsequently modified by a further order. Generally speaking, ASN is not involved in the oversight of ICPEs using radioactive substances, outside the perimeter of a BNI. The list of classified installations (appendix to Article R. 511-9 of the Environment Code) which was modified at the beginning of 2018 with the transposition of Directive 2013/59/Euratom of 5th December 2013, defines the types of installations subject to this system and the applicable thresholds. Four sections of the ICPE list concern radioactive substances: ཛྷ ཛྷ section 1716 for radioactive substances in unsealed form and naturally occurring radioactive substances utilised in an industrial or commercial facility and the total quantity of which exceeds one tonne, with the exception of particle accelerators and the medical sector subject to the provisions of the Public Health Code; ཛྷ ཛྷ section 2797 for the management of radioactive waste used in an industrial or commercial facility except for particle accelerators and the medical sector, when the quantity liable to be present exceeds 10 m 3 and the exemption conditions mentioned in 1° of I of Article R. 1333-80 of the Public Health Code are not met; ཛྷ ཛྷ section 2798 for transit installations for radioactive waste resulting from a nuclear or radiological accident; ཛྷ ཛྷ section 1735 for depots, storage or disposal facilities for solid residues of uranium, thorium or radium ore, as well as their processing by-products not containing uranium enriched with isotope-235 and for which the total quantity exceeds one tonne. It should be recalled that: ཛྷ ཛྷ The activities and installations for the management of radioactive waste [pursuant to Council Directive 2011/70/ Euratomof 19th July 2011 establishing a European community framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste] are subject to licensing. ཛྷ ཛྷ Only radioactive substances in unsealed form with potential environmental implications and naturally occurring radioactive materials are subject to the ICPE system; all sealed sources are subject to the Public Health Code. ཛྷ ཛྷ For waste disposal facilities which can contain naturally occurring radioactivematerials, only those for which the activity of the natural radionuclides of the uranium and thorium series is greater than 20 Bq/g are subject to section 2797. ཛྷ ཛྷ Activities involving quantities of naturally occurring radioactive materials in excess of 1 tonne are subject to no particular system in accordance with the provisions of Article R. 1333-37 of the Public Health Code.