ASN Report 2020

5.2  Processing of reported cases At the end of November 2018, ASN set up an online portal to enable anyone wishing to notify it of irregularities potentially affecting the protection of persons and the environment (whistle- blower) to do so. By means of a system of pseudonyms for the notifications received, ASN guarantees the confidentiality of anyone sending it a notification. Only a request from a judicial authority could override this confidentiality, something which has not yet happened. It is however preferable for the person sending in the notification to leave their contact details so that ASN can: ∙ acknowledge receipt of the notification; ∙ contact them if clarification is required (this is frequently the case); ∙ inform them if action has been taken following their notification. In 2020, 33 notifications were sent to ASN: slightly less than half via the notification portal, the others by other means of transmission (5 notifications by mail, 7 by direct contact with the geographically competent ASN division, etc.). The notifications received vary in terms of the field concerned, whether a BNI or small-scale nuclear facility, and in their content. Some are also forwarded by ASN to other administrations when it is not competent to deal with them. This could for example be the case of information concerning the security of a BNI, which is the responsibility of the Defence and Security High Official at the Ministry for Energy. Eleven notifications have been verified during the course of inspections. The follow-up measures are managed within the same framework as the routine inspections. For nine notifications, ASN contacted the authors of the notification again in order to obtain clarification. Six of the notifications received in 2020 were anonymous: two of them, even if their content was taken into account in the overall monitoring actions, did not lead to targeted actions, as they were too vague and their anonymous authors could not be contacted. In addition, ASN was unable to inform the authors of the anonymous notifications of the action taken. 6. Identifying and penalising deviations ASN implements enforcement measures, making it possible to oblige a licensee or party responsible for a nuclear activity to restore compliance with the regulations, along with penalties. 6.1  Fairness and consistency in the decisions regarding enforcement and sanction measures In certain situations in which the actions of the licensee or party responsible for a nuclear activity fail to comply with the regulations or legislation, or when it is important that appropriate action be taken by it to remedy the most serious risks without delay, ASN may resort to enforcement measures and impose the penalties provided for by law. The principles of ASN actions in this respect are: ∙ actions that are impartial, justified and appropriate to the level of risk presented by the situation concerned. Their scale is proportionate to the health and environmental risks associated with the deviation identified and also take account of factors relating to the licensee (past history, behaviour, repeated nature), the context of the deviation and the nature of the requirements contravened (regulations, standards, “rules of good practice”, etc.); ∙ administrative actions initiated on proposals from the inspectors and decided on by ASN in order to remedy risk situations and non-compliance with the legislative and regulatory requirements as observed during its inspections. ASN has a range of tools at its disposal regarding the party responsible for a nuclear activity or a licensee, more particularly: ∙ the inspector’s observations; ∙ the official letter from the ASN departments (inspection follow-up letter); ∙ formal notice from ASN to regularise the administrative situation or meet certain conditions, within a given time-frame; ∙ administrative penalties applied after formal notice. In addition to ASN’s administrative actions, reports can be drafted by the inspector and sent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. 6.2  An appropriate policy of enforcement and sanctions When ASN observes non-compliance with the legislative and regulatory provisions applicable to nuclear safety or radiation protection (provisions of the Public Health Code and the Labour Code), enforcement measures or sanctions may be taken against the licensees or parties responsible for a nuclear activity, after an exchange of views – in accordance with the right of defence – and prior formal notice. In the event of failure to comply with the applicable provisions and requirements, the law (Environment Code and Public Health Code) makes provision for graduated enforcement measures and administrative sanctions: ∙ deposit in the hands of a public accountant of a sum covering the total cost of the work to be performed; ∙ have the work carried out without consulting the licensee or the party responsible for the nuclear activity and at its expense (any sums deposited beforehand can be used to pay for this work); ∙ suspension of the operation of the facility or of the transport operation until conformity is restored, or suspension of the activity until complete performance of the conditions imposed and the adoption of interim measures at the expense of the person served formal notice, in particular in the event of urgent measures to protect human safety; ∙ a daily fine (an amount set per day, to be paid by the licensee or the party responsible until full compliance with the requirements of the formal notice has been achieved); ∙ administrative fine. It should be noted that these last two measures are proportionate to the gravity of the infringements observed. The administrative fine falls within the competence of the ASN Administrative Enforcement Committee (see chapter 2). The Act also makes provision for interim measures to safeguard security and public health and safety or protect the environment. ASN can therefore: ∙ provisionally suspend operation of a BNI, immediately notifying the Ministers responsible for nuclear safety, in the event of any serious and imminent risk; ∙ at all times require assessments and implementation of the necessary measures in the event of a threat to the above­ mentioned interests; ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 169 03 – REGULATION OF NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES AND EXPOSURE TO IONISING RADIATION 03