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long-term exchanges (about one to three years) for
immersion in the working of foreign nuclear safety and
radiation protection regulators. Whenever possible,
this type of exchange should be reciprocal.
For many years, ASN and the ONR (Office for Nuclear
Regulation –UnitedKingdom) have engaged in long-term
staff exchanges. Since June 2014, anASNstaff member has
been seconded toONR, to join the Sellafield programme
for a three-year period. This programme is one with
major implications for the ONR in the coming years, in
some respects very similar to those being encountered in
France with the fuel reprocessing facilities (for example
La Hague).
AnASNengineer has been seconded to the Spanish safety
regulator (CSN –
Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear)
since
February 2014, working in the division responsible for
radiological emergencies.
In August 2013, the secondment of an ASN staff member
to the American safety regulator began for a period of
three years. He is more specifically working in the field
of Social, Human and Organisational Factors (SOHF).
Since the beginning of March 2015, ASNhas also hosted
a member of the NRC for a period of one year. This
NRC representative is working in the Nuclear Power
plant Department (DCN) on drafting inspection guides,
more specifically with regard to the flooding risk. At the
beginning of 2016, another NRC representative joined
the DCN in place of his colleague.
Staff exchanges are also organised with international
organisations. For instance, a member of ASN has been
working at IAEA since autumn 2010, in the team tasked
with organising Integrated Regulatory Review Service
(IRRS) assignments. Finally, ASN is seconding two of its
staff to NEA, on the one hand to contribute to the work
of the MDEP technical secretariat and, on the other, to
assist the Safety Department.
These staff exchanges or secondments are a means of
enhancing ASNpractices. Experience acquired overmore
than ten years now indicates that inspector exchange
programmesmake a significant contribution to stimulating
bilateral relations between nuclear safety and radiation
protection regulators.
It is also worth underlining the appointment of
representatives of foreign safety regulatory bodies to the
Advisory Committees of Experts. ASN has adopted this
practice, which enables experts fromother countries not
only to take part in these advisory committees, but also
occasionally to act as Chair or Deputy Chair.
5.2 Bilateral cooperation between
ASN and its foreign counterparts
Bilateral relations betweenASNand its foreign counterparts
are built around an approach that integrates nuclear
safety and radiation protection for each of the countries
with which ASNmaintains relations. The following can
be offered as examples:
South Africa
In 2015, active technical exchanges continued between
ASN and its South African counterpart, the National
Nuclear Regulator (NNR). The main exchanges covered
the question of steam generator renewal. The NNR
is preparing to examine the replacement file for the
steam generators in the Koeberg NPP and wishes to
draw on ASN’s experience in this field. Two technical
meetings were therefore held in France in 2015. The
first was in Lyon, to discuss the inspection process and
its implementation. The second took place in Dijon
in October, to examine the more technical aspects of
regulation.
Germany
The 41st French-German Commission for nuclear facility
safety issues
(Die Deutsche-Französische Kommission
für Fragen der Sicherheit kerntechnischer Einrichtungen
– DFK) was held in June 2015 in Cherbourg. This
annual meeting enabled the two delegations to present
topical matters related to nuclear safety and radiation
protection, as well as the annual reviews concerning
the safety of the Fessenheim and Cattenom NPPs in
France and Neckarwestheim and Philippsburg in
Germany. The representatives of the four thematic
working groups set up by the DFK also presented
their work. The decision was taken to terminate the
4th Working Group (WG) on small-scale nuclear
activities as its work was considered to duplicate that
carried out in multilateral forums such as HERCA.
The two delegations had the opportunity to visit the
EPR construction site at Flamanville.
Belgium
ASN enjoys long-standing and regular relations with
its Belgian counterpart, AFCN (Federal Agency for
Nuclear Regulation), and Bel V, its technical support
organisation, on a variety of subjects (power and research
reactors, cyclotrons, radiation protection in particular
in the medical field, radon, transport, etc.).
In addition to the periodic meetings on the safety
of nuclear facilities (two meetings per year) and
transport (one meeting per year), AFCN and ASN
are also continuing their exchange of experience of the
regulation of facilities such as the
Institut national des
Radioéléments (IRE)
in Belgium or CIS bio international
in France.
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CHAPTER 07:
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2015