ASN Report 2017

208 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 soil samples from it. The installation delicensing application file will be sent to ASN in 2018. In view of the presence of a residual chemical and radiological marking, ASN will make delicensing of the STED dependent on the implementation of active institutional controls. The other installations on the site – the experimental reactors Siloé, Siloette and Mélusine – have been cleaned out and delicensed. The other industrial and research facilities High Flux Reactor (RHF) in the Laue-Langevin Institute (ILL) in Grenoble (Isère département ) Despite having observed several deviations from the safety management regulations, ASN considers that the facilities of the ILL display a satisfactory level of safety. Consequently, ASN expects the ILL to reinforce its organisation with respect to the requirements of the regulations. In 2017, the ILL continued putting in place backup systems and making reinforcements to its facility. These works correspond to ASN instructions or commitments made as part of the lessons learned from the Fukushima nuclear accident. The main works concern reinforcing the sealing of the openings in the reactor building containment (particularly in the case of extreme flooding) and the installation or modification of backup systems to protect against the risks associated with loss of cooling (systems for resupplying the reactor with water, including after an extreme earthquake and extreme flooding). In May 2017, the ILL gave notification of a significant safety- related event involving the jamming of a spent fuel element in its handling cask during operations to transfer it to the non- exposable part of the storage pool, and which was rated level 1 on the INES scale. This event had no immediate consequences on either the facility, the workers or the environment. The recovery of the spent fuel element did take several weeks however, as it was necessary to modify the winch used to handle the transfer cask. During this period the fuel element was in secure condition and cooled normally. The analysis of the event identified the causes and enabled corrective measures to be put in place to prevent it from recurring. With regard to occupational radiation protection, one significant event led to minor contamination of one level of the reactor building and of a few operators. This event was rated level 0 on the INES scale. ASN expects the ILL to make significant improvements in its management of the periodic verifications and tests required by the regulations or by its operating baseline requirements. Indeed, since 2016 the ILL has notified 7 significant events relating to safety and concerning the incomplete and delayed accomplishment of periodic verifications or tests. On 6th February 2018, ASN gave the ILL formal notice to change its organisation in order to comply with the regulatory requirements concerning the modifications of its facility. ASN will pay particular attention in 2018 to the implementation of the ILL’s new integrated management system, deployment of which began in 2017. Significant improvements are required in the management of the equipment modifications management process in particular, with the setting up of a classification system for equipment modifications and reinforcing of the corresponding prior risk analyses. Lastly, the ILL submitted the ten-yearly safety review file for the facility in 2017. After examining it, ASN will make a statement on the conditions of continued operation of the facility. The EDF Activated Waste Packaging and Interim storage Installation (Iceda) at Bugey (Ain département ) The purpose of the Iceda facility – BNI 173 –, authorised by Decree on 23rd April 2010, will be to process and store activated waste from operation of the EDF reactors in service and from the decommissioning of the first-generation reactors and of the Creys-Malville NPP. The last finishing operations and the pre-commissioning tests were continued in 2017. ASN notes that the test programme is running significantly behind schedule. EDF now envisages commissioning the facility in the second half of 2018. During the 2 inspections it carried out in 2017, ASN found the rigour of EDF’s organisation and of the temporary grouping of contractors for equipment installation and test monitoring in the facilities to be adequate. The inspectors noted the good overall upkeep of the work site. The EDF Inter-Regional fuel Warehouse (MIR) at Bugey The Inter-Regional Warehouse (MIR – BNI 02) operated by EDF at Bugey is a storage facility for fresh nuclear fuel intended for the nuclear power plant fleet in operation. The level of safety of MIR was satisfactory in 2017. The periodic safety review of the facility is in progress, as are the stress tests required by ASN in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. The facility has more specifically been modified to improve control of the risk of flooding. After examining the periodic safety review file submitted by the licensee, ASN will rule on the conditions for continued operation of the facility. Ionisos irradiator in Dagneux (Ain département ) The Dagneux irradiator – BNI 68 – operated by the company Ionisos, displayed a satisfactory level of safety in 2017. In accordance with its commitment, Ionisos submitted a conclusion report on the periodic safety review of the facility at the end of October 2017. This report, which must integrate the lessons learned from the safety reviews of the Ionisos sites of Pouzauges and Sablé-sur-Sarthe, is being examined by ASN. Tricastin Operational Hot Unit (BCOT) in Bollène (Vaucluse département ) On completion of its inspections, ASN considers that the level of safety of the BCOT is satisfactory on the whole. In 2017, the BCOT continued the cutting up of the used control rod guide tubes from the pressurised water reactors