ASN Report 2017

08 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Editorial by the Director General Olivier GUPTA Director General T he question has been heard a number of times: is ASN under pressure? It cannot be denied that the current context is a potential source of tensions and the workload is considerable, but the very nature of ASN’s duties requires that it issue its resolutions rigorously yet calmly. This is what we did throughout 2017 and this is to a large extent the result of a working method profoundly rooted in the very culture of ASN itself. However, the context required that we redefine a strategic plan in order to take account of the challenges of the current period and that we take a fresh look at our regulation and oversight policy: this fundamental work has been carried out and 2018 will see the implementation of the resulting changes. ASN’s working method, a real advantage in the current context ASN devotes efforts to identifying subjects on which it wishes to see progress being made in the nuclear safety and radiation protection situation. These subjects are often complex, of long duration and require a degree of perseverance. The case of social, organisational and human factors is a prime example of this. After the Fukushima Daiichi accident, ASN considered that this subject needed to be looked at again, with the involvement of all stakeholders concerned and, as early as 2012, it created a steering committee for social, organisational and human factors. The work done by several thematic groups set up within this committee, more particularly on maintenance and emergency situations, was completed in 2017 and their reports were made public. On a completely different point, ASN has for a long time been pointing out that the monitoring of the security of radioactive sources – in other words their protection against malicious acts – was covered by no State structure and proposed taking charge of this point. This has now been done and the first inspections on the subject will take place in 2018. The ASN working method, its ability to adapt and the flexibility of its organisation are no doubt crucial in its ability to take on new subjects and ensure progress in dealing with them, year after year. Montrouge, 1st March 2018 Towards a new regulation policy