ASN Report 2020

United Kingdom ASN and the British regulator (Office for Nuclear Regulation – ONR) share many subjects of interest, notably with regard to validation of English approvals by ASN and vice-versa. Bilateral contacts are therefore held regularly to ensure good communication between these two Authorities. Switzerland In 2012, ASN began bilateral exchange on transports with the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (IFSN – called Eidgenössisches Nuklearsicherheitsinspektorat (ENSI) in German). Since then, ASN and IFSN have met annually in order to discuss the packaging model safety cases and the checks on the requirements associated with the correct utilization of these transport packages. 2018 edition of the IAEA Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials (SSR-6) The main changes introduced into the 2018 edition of the transport regulations by comparison with the previous 2012 edition, concern: ཛྷ improved management of the packages used both for carriage and storage operations (dual-purpose cask or DPC); ཛྷ the creation of SCO-III objects for the transport of unpackaged voluminous items; ཛྷ greater account being taken of ageing mechanisms when designing packages; ཛྷ reinforced protection of the plugs of UF 6 cylinders; ཛྷ cessation of the leaching test for LSA-III materials. France has adopted a number of measures to deal with the consequences of the health crisis. On 19 March 2020, it first of all signed the M324 multilateral agreement for an exceptional extension until 30 November 2020 of the validity of the training certificates for Drivers and Safety Advisors appointed within companies (CST), which was reaching its expiry date. On 26 October 2020, it again signed the M330 multilateral agreement to postpone this expiry date to 28 February 2021. Finally, the Order of 10 December 2020 introduced exemptions to certain provisions of the Order of 29 May 2009 concerning the carriage of dangerous goods by land (called the “TMD Order”). This Order relaxes certain constraints applying to CSTs and to inspection bodies approved for quality assurance inspections concerning packaging manufacturing, because of the lockdown measures and the physical distancing rules imposed owing to the health crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 283 09 – TRANSPORT OF RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES 09