ASN Report 2020

Industrial capacity to be mobilised Over the coming five years, the nuclear sector will have to cope with a significant increase in the volume of work that is absolutely essential to ensuring the safety of the facilities in operation. Starting in 2021, four to f ive of EDF’s 900 Megawatts electric (MWe) reactors will undergo major work as a result of their fourth ten-yearly outages. This workload will inevitably be compounded by the essential work needed to increase spent fuel storage capacity, as well as that linked to priority operations involved in the conditioning of legacy waste and the dismantling of installations. All of this work will significantly increase the industrial workload of the sector, with particular attention required in certain segments that are under strain, such as mechanical and engineering, at both the licensees and the contractors. The prospect of increased work on the existing NPP fleet is a point demanding particular attention, but it should also be an opportunity for the nuclear sector which, in the past, lacked projects capable of maintaining its skills. In the current context of the health and economic crises, ASN considers that the State and the order­ ing customers should pay particular attention to maintaining the industrial capacity of the key players in the sector, notably when they are also encounter­ ing diff iculties in other high-tech sectors, such as aeronautics. Results in terms of rigour, skills and quality expected as of 2021 A year ago, ASN drew attention to the need to reinforce skills, professional rigorousness and quality within the nuclear sector. The measures initiated in 2020 under EDF’s Excell plan and within the French Nuclear Energy Industry Group (GIFEN) reflect a real collective engagement on these issues. The correct performance of operations “f irst time round”, the rapid detection and processing of any non-compliances, the evaluation of the maturity of the various phases of projects and the search for greater standardisation of equipment and of work programmes are key points in these approaches. ASN considers that the goals of skills enhancement, notably regarding welding, as well as of increased rigorousness in project management and monitoring of activities, are steps in the right direction. ASN will be attentive to ensuring that these goals lead to tangible results starting in 2021, notably for those installations under construction, such as the Flamanville EPR reactor, but also for work linked to the fourth periodic safety review of the 900 MWe reactors. Safety improvements opening up the prospect of continued operation of the 900MWe reactors The objectives set for the fourth periodic safety review of the 900 MWe reactors are ambitious. They were defined in the light of the safety objectives defined for the third generation reactors, in particular the EPR. They will make the installations more robust to natural hazards and reduce the radiological consequences in the event of an accident, notably one with core melt. In order to achieve these goals, EDF has proposed numerous modifications to the installations, notably to improve the safety of the spent fuel pool, reduce the risk of core melt and limit releases in the event of a severe accident. Following the generic phase of the periodic safety review, ASN considers that implementation of the modifications proposed by EDF leads to significant improvements in the safety of the installations. ASN prescribes the implementation of the major safety improvements planned by EDF, along with certain additional provisions it considers necessary to achieve the safety review objectives. Deployment of the modif ications proposed by EDF and the additional provisions prescribed by ASN will be implemented in two stages, to favour satisfactory management by the licensee and easier assimilation by the operating teams. ASN ensured that most of the … 4 ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 EDITORIAL BY THE COMMISSION