233 / 536
CAEN DIVISION
1. ASSESSMENT BY DOMAIN
1.1 The nuclear installations
Areva NC plant at La Hague
ASN considers that the situation of the plants operated
by Areva NC on the La Hague site is relatively satisfactory
with regard to nuclear safety, radiological exposure of the
personnel and compliance with environmental discharge
limits, but that Areva NC must continue its efforts to
ensure the retrieval and packaging of the legacy waste
stored on the site within the prescribed deadlines.
In the context of a procedure conducted by the Areva
group, during 2015 Areva NC identified more than ten
projects to introduce changes in industrial organisation
on the La Hague site. ASN reminded Areva NC that a
prerequisite for the implementation of such changes is that
any impact theymight have on safety provisions – especially
in the areas of emergency situation management, skills
management and the use of outside contractors – should
be rigorously taken into account.
ASN considers that the projects for retrieving and
packaging the legacy waste stored on the site must be
carried out in compliance with the deadlines prescribed
by the resolution of 9th December 2014. In 2015 ASN
checked the progress of the work prior to construction
of the retrieval and packaging units for the waste stored
in silo 130; ASN notes that Areva NC is behind schedule
in meeting the retrieval deadline set for July 2016. ASN
considers that the construction of the waste retrieval
unit of the HAO silo is proceeding satisfactorily. ASN
observes that Areva NC is still encountering technical
difficulties in utilising the specific vitrification crucible
allowing the packaging of UMo fission products, which
induces further delays. As a general rule, ASN will be
particularly attentive to the way in which Areva NC
manages the technical difficulties encountered in the
waste retrieval and packaging projects with regard to
the applicable requirements.
In 2015 Areva NC continued the decommissioning
operations on the UP2-400 plant authorised in
November 2013, as much for the treatment of large
items of equipment as for conducting investigations
aiming to consolidate the complete decommissioning
scenarios. ASN notes that waste management in the
decommissioning workshops must be improved. ASN
has started to examine the complete decommissioning
files for BNIs 33 and 38 submitted by Areva NC in
July 2015, and the periodic safety reviews of the three
BNIs of the UP2-400 plant.
The La Hague site includes Nuclear Pressure Equipment
(NPE) whose design does not allow direct application of
several provisions of the order of 12th December 2005
relating to in-service monitoring. Insofar as the first
associated regulatory deadlines were inMay 2014, at the
beginning of 2014 Areva NC asked - as the regulations
permit in such cases - that special conditions be defined
for the in-service monitoring of these equipment items,
but the files submitted to support the case turned out
to be insufficient and were declared inadmissible by
ASN. By a resolution of 26th May 2015, ASN gave
Areva NC formal notice to comply with the regulatory
obligations relative to the in-service monitoring of NPE.
This resolution contains compliance deadlines staggered
between 31st January 2016 and 31st July 2018.
Areva NC communicated to ASN the results of the
thickness checks carried out in 2015 on the fission
product concentration evaporators in the R2 and T2 units.
The corrosion mechanisms affecting these items are
appearing significantly faster than predicted in the design.
ASN considers this situation worrying and has urged
Areva NC firstly to implement the identified measures
aiming to slow the corrosion of these items of equipment
and secondly to conduct without delay the additional
investigations necessary to determine the impact of the
corrosion phenomena on the dependability of the site’s
evaporation capacities in the coming years.
ASN notes the occurrence of several radioactive effluent
transfer errors in late 2014 and early 2015 which must
be appropriately addressed by Areva NC; ASN considers
that Areva NC must implement the technical and
organisational measures adopted to prevent recurrence
of these errors as quickly as possible and in all the
facilities concerned.
ASN issued two resolutions on 22nd December 2015
revising the regulations governing the La Hague site
water intakes and discharges to take into account
upgrading of the site’s steam plant, the requirements
of the order of 7th February 2012, and the current
regulatory framework for waste retrieval and packaging,
shutdown and decommissioning operations.
Flamanville nuclear power plant
ASN considers that the nuclear safety, radiation
protection and environmental protection performance
of the Flamanville site is, on the whole, in line with
its general assessment of EDF performance, but the
occurrence of several incident situations demands
particular attention.
With regard to operation, performance of periodic
tests and reactor management, ASN considers that the
site’s performance remains satisfactory on the whole.
However, management of the operational control
instructions must be improved, particularly as regards
the rigour with which these documents are filled out
and checked before being put into application. ASN
also considers that improvements must be made in the
analysis, characterisation and handling of conformity
deviations.
233
CHAPTER 08 :
REGIONAL OVERVIEW OF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND RADIATION PROTECTION
ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2015