ASN Report 2017

207 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Chapter 08  - Regional overview of nuclear safety and radiation protection AUVERGNE-RHÔNE-ALPES concerns the process for assessing the physical changes made to the facility by the licensee, which requires reinforcement. Lastly, the SET must maintain the progress initiative undertaken to control leaks of refrigerant gases. Socatri’s maintenance, effluent treatment and waste packaging facilities in Bollène (Vaucluse département ) ASN considers that Socatri’s level of operational safety in 2017 was satisfactory and that operating rigour was improved. The licensee also made significant improvements in the safety of the facilities, further either to ASN instructions or commitments made by the licensee in the follow-ups to the periodic safety review of the facilities. ASN nevertheless drew the licensee’s attention to the next periodic safety review, scheduled for 2018. The licensee conducted tightened inspections of the retention structures identified as being priorities for safety, as required by ASN resolution CODEP-CLG-2017-014344 of 7th April 2017. ASN expects the licensee to repair the nonconforming retention structures detected by these inspections as rapidly as possible. Socatri has applied for authorisation to substantially modify its facility in order more specifically to install a site waste processing unit baptised Trident. At the end of the public inquiry conducted in 2016, the licensee was consulted in 2017 on a draft decree. In 2017, ASN gave its consent to start the work to set up the unit. Commissioning this unit will require the prior consent of ASN. Areva Tricastin analysis laboratory (Atlas) in Pierrelatte (Drôme département ) Atlas constitutes BNI 176, a new installation of laboratories authorised by Decree 2015-1210 of 30th September 2015. Atlas brings significant improvements in safety compared with the old laboratories. In 2017, ASN conducted inspections to check compliance with the facility commissioning conditions, which formed the subject of ASN resolution 2017-DC-0584 of 7th March 2017. On completion of these inspections, ASN found that a number of commitments made by the licensee had not been fulfilled by the stated deadlines and asked Areva to fulfil them before 30th October 2017. Installations undergoing decommissioning EDF Superphénix reactor at Creys-Malville (Isère département ) ASN considers that the safety of the Superphénix reactor decommissioning operations and of operation of the fuel storage facility is on the whole ensured satisfactorily. ASN’s inspections have nevertheless revealed several deficiencies in the monitoring of subcontracted activities. ASN therefore expects the licensee to make improvements in this area in 2018. Inspections also revealed deterioration in the processes for managing deviations and monitoring the commitments the licensee made to ASN. ASN reminded the licensee of the regulatory requirements concerning these activities which are important to safety and asked it to comply with them. As concerns emergency situation management, the fire that broke out on sodium-contaminated waste on 4th July 2017 and the exercise organised by ASN during an unannounced inspection on 4th August 2017 showed that the site’s organisation for emergency management outside working hours was unsatisfactory. Site management submitted a corrective action plan to ASN. ASN will be particularly attentive to this issue in 2018. With regard to environmental protection, ASN surveyed EDF’s work to ensure the tightness of what EDF considers to be ultimate retention structures, and to improve the management of the mobile retention structures and the transfer of liquid effluents. EDF performed the periodic safety review on the site’s two installations. ASN has started the technical examination of the submitted files, and once completed, it will specify the reinforcement work to perform on the installations. EDF Bugey nuclear power plant reactor 1 undergoing decommissioning ASN considers that decommissioning of the Bugey 1 reactor is proceeding under satisfactorily safe conditions. The licensee has a robust organisation and monitors the decommissioning equipment and work with rigour. EDF presented a project to ASN to modify the decommissioning strategy for the gas-cooled reactors which would result in the Bugey 1 installation decommissioning schedule being pushed back by several decades. ASN is examining the files it requested to justify the change of strategy, as much in the scenario (decommissioning in air as opposed to under water as initially planned) as in the timing, by choosing to decommission Chinon A2 (or A3) as first in series instead of Bugey 1. The decommissioning completion date for the Bugey 1 containment structure in this case would be around 2080. If this new strategy and the corresponding time frame were implemented, the decree governing reactor decommissioning would have to be revised. In 2017, ASN also examined the periodic safety review guidance file provided by EDF for the Bugey 1 reactor. The safety review conclusion report is to be submitted by EDF before the end of 2018. CEA Grenoble reactors and plants undergoing decommissioning (Isère département ) The LAMA (Active Materials Analysis Laboratory) and the STED (Effluent and Solid Waste Treatment Station) decommissioning operations are now completed. Having achieved the clean-out objectives, ASN delicensed the LAMA laboratory – BNI 61 – through ASN resolution 2017-DC-0602 of 24th August 2017. ASN also conducted an inspection of the STED, the last installation on the site remaining to be delicensed, and took