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ASN is responsible for reviewing the file, jointly with the
Minister responsible for Nuclear Safety. This is followed
by a period of parallel consultation of the public and
technical experts.
The impact assessment is submitted for its opinion to the
environmental authority of theDepartmental Council for
theEnvironment andSustainableDevelopment (CGEDD).
The public inquiry
Article L.593-8 of the Environment Code stipulates that
the authorisation canonlybe granted after holding a public
inquiry. The purpose of the inquiry is to informthe public
andcollecttheiropinions,suggestionsandcounterproposals,
in such a way as to provide the competent authority with
all the elements necessary for it then tomake an informed
decision.
The inquiry is carriedout inaccordancewith theprovisions
of Articles L. 123-1 to L. 123-19 and R. 123-1 to R. 123-
27 of the Environment Code. The Prefect opens the public
inquiry at least ineachof the communities ofwhichanypart
is situated less than five kilometres from the perimeter of
the installation. This inquiry lasts fromaminimumof one
month toamaximumof twomonths. Thedossier submitted
by the licensee in support of its authorisation application
is made available in the public inquiry dossier. However,
as the safety analysis report (containing the inventory of
the risks the installation can present, the analysis of the
measures taken to prevent these risks and a description of
themeasures designed to limit the probability of accidents
and their effects) is abulkydocument and is difficult for non-
specialists tounderstand, it is supplementedby a riskcontrol
study, which itself comprises a non-technical summary
of this study designed to make it easier to understand by
the general public.
Furthermore, the procedures concerning BNIs subject to a
public inquiry are within the scope of Decree 2011-2021
of 29thDecember 2011, determining the list of projects,
plans and programmes to be communicated electronically
to the general public under the experiment specified in
section II of Article L. 123-10 of the Environment Code.
This states that the Authority responsible for opening and
holding the public inquiry shall communicate the main
documents in the inquiry dossier to the general public in
electronic format. This approach aims to make it easier
for the public to become informed about the projects,
in particular those who do not live in the places where
the inquiry is being held. Using this means of providing
access to information and the possibility of submitting
observations in electronic format, as stipulated in Article
R. 123-9 of the Environment Code since the publication
of the above-mentionedDecree of 29thDecember 2011,
aims to facilitate and improve the way inwhich the public
can express their opinions. These recommendations came
into force on 1st June 2012.
Construction of a BNI requires the issue of a building
permit by the Prefect, according to procedures specified in
Articles R. 421-1 et seq. and Article R. 422-2 of the Town
Planning Code. Article L. 425-12 of the Town Planning
Code, created by the TSN Act of 13th June 2006, states
that
“when the project concerns a basic nuclear installation
requiring creation authorisation pursuant to Article L. 593-7
of the Environment Code […], the workmay not be performed
before the closure of the public inquiry held prior to this
authorisation.”
The creation of a Local Information Committee
(CLI)
The TSN Act of 13th June 2006, now codified in Books I
andVof theEnvironmentCode, formallydefined the status
of the BNI Local InformationCommittees (CLI). The CLIs
are presented in chapter 6.
The corresponding provisions can be found in sub-
section 3 of section 2 of Chapter V of Title II of Book 1 of
theEnvironmentCode. TheCLI canbe createdas soonas the
BNI creation authorisation application ismade.Whatever
the case, it must be constituted once the authorisation
decree has been issued.
Themodificationsmade to theCLI’s responsibilities by the
TECVAct aredetailed inchapter6, point 2.3.1. The specific
nature of theCLIs of BNIs located close to a border is taken
intoaccount because theAct enables foreignnationals to sit
ontheseCLIs(thisinparticularconcernsGermany,Belgium,
Luxembourg and Switzerland).
Consultation of other European Union countries
Pursuant toArticle 37of theTreaty instituting theEuropean
Atomic Energy Community and to the BNI Procedures
Decree of 2nd November 2007, the creation of a facility
liable todischarge radioactive effluents into the environment
can only be authorised after consulting the European
Commission.
Consultation of technical organisations
Thepreliminaryversionofthesafetyanalysisreportappended
to the creation authorisation application is transmitted to
ASN, which may submit it for examination to one of the
Advisory Committees reporting to it, following a report
from IRSN.
Furthertoitsinvestigationandtheresultsoftheconsultations,
ASN sends the Minister responsible for Nuclear Safety a
draft decree proposal authorising or rejecting creation of
the installation.
Creation Authorisation Decree
TheMinisterresponsibleforNuclearSafetysendsthelicensee
a preliminary draft Decree granting or refusing Creation
Authorisation(DAC,seediagram4).Thelicenseehasaperiod
of two months in which to present its observations. The
Minister then obtains the opinion of ASN. ASN resolution
2010-DC-0179 of 13thApril 2010 gives licensees and the
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CHAPTER 03:
REGULATIONS
ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2015