ASN Report 2017

426 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Chapter 15  - Decommissioning of Basic Nuclear Installations in operation but with sections that have stopped their activity and on which preparatory operations for decommissioning are being carried out. They also concern two ICPEs (Installations Classified for Protection of the Environment), EL2 and EL3, which were previously BNIs but which have not been completely dismantled due to the absence of a disposal route for low-level long-lived waste. Their delicensing in the 1980’s from BNI status to ICPE status, in compliance with the regulations of that time, would not be possible today. High-Activity Laboratory (LHA) (BNI 49) The LHA comprises three buildings housing several laboratories which were intended for research into or the production of various radionuclides. On completion of the decommissioning and clean-out work authorised by Decree of 18th September 2008, only two laboratories currently in operation should ultimately remain under the ICPE System. These two laboratories are the laboratory for chemical and radiological characterisation of effluents and waste, and the packaging and storage facility for the recovery of sources that are surplus to requirements. The cell clean-out operations continued in 2017, with dismantling of the Totem shielded line in particular. ASN’s inspections have found improvements in the management of the waste storage areas, but particular attention must be focused on the management of waste in general. ASN also evidenced the need for the last filtration level manifolds to function during the future work. Dismantling of these manifolds has therefore been postponed. Lastly, the treatment of the radioactive contamination of the soils in certain interior courtyards will not be able to be carried out before the 18th September 2018 deadline set by the LHA decommissioning authorisation decree. The licensee must produce a deadline modification file. In 2018, ASN will be attentive to the justification for pushing back this deadline and to the future operations schedule. ASN considers that the level of safety of BNI 49 undergoing decommissioning is satisfactory. Ulysse reactor (BNI 18) Ulysse was the first French university reactor. The facility has been definitively shut down since February 2007 and has contained no fuel since 2008. The final shutdown and decommissioning authorisation decree for the BNI was published on 18th August 2014 and provides for a five- year decommissioning period. BNI 18 is an installation presenting limited safety risks. Following the ASN authorisation granted in early 2017, the cutting up of the concrete reactor block – the final stage in the nuclear worksites – began in July 2017. Some one hundred concrete blocks resulting from the cutting up will be removed in accordance with the provisions of the file for the clean- out of the structures and soils, for which the authorisation was delivered on 4th September 2017. In 2018, ASN will monitor these removal operations and examine the modification application relative to the conventional decommissioning of the pool, following the discovery of a lens of water (small quantity coming from perched water tables) behind one of the pool walls. ASN will be attentive to compliance with the decommissioning deadline of August 2019. 2.2.5 The Marcoule Centre installations undergoing decommissioning Phénix NPP (BNI 71) The Phénix reactor, built and operated by CEA and EDF, is a sodium-cooled fast neutron-breeder reactor demonstrator. Phénix was a research-dedicated power reactor with an electrical power of 250 MWe. It was definitively shut down in 2009. The Decree of 2nd June 2016 instructed the CEA to proceed with the decommissioning operations. In 2017, the licensee continued the withdrawal of fuel from the core under liquid sodium, the removal of the large components (pumps, heat exchangers) and the construction of the NOAH building. NOAH is dedicated to the neutralisation of the sodium from Phénix and other CEA facilities prior to discharge. The licensee has also undertaken a renovation of the NPP fire detection and alarm system and has asked ASN for authorisation to build airlocks for accessing the main buildings, in accordance with the instructions of the decommissioning decree. The inspections carried out by ASN in 2017 on control of the fire risk, the transport of radioactive substances and the monitoring of pressure equipment, revealed no particular problems. 2.3 Areva installations 2.3.1 The decommissioning strategy of Areva Decommissioning the old installations is a major challenge for Areva, which has to manage several large-scale decommissioning projects (UP2-400 facility at La Hague, Eurodif Production plant, individual facilities of the DBNI at Pierrelatte, etc.). Furthermore, the decommissioning preparation or actual decommissioning operations may necessitate the removal of the operational waste that is still present in the installation. In some cases, especially with the old waste storage facilities on the La Hague site, specific legacy waste retrieval and packaging operations must be carried out. In June 2016, at the request of ASN and ASND, Areva transmitted its 10-year decommissioning strategy for the installations for which it is the licensee. This file, for which additional elements were received in 2017, is currently being reviewed. The last review of Areva’s waste management strategy dates back to 2005 and only focused on Areva NC La Hague. ASN will rule on the Areva group’s strategy in 2018, and in particular on its application to the La Hague and Tricastin sites.