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ASN observes that, although the overall organisation
of the two reactor outages scheduled during 2015 was
generally satisfactory, deficiencies in work preparation,
in the quality of performance of maintenance work and
in the monitoring of outside contractors nevertheless
led to two significant incident situations. The first led
to the triggering of the on-site emergency plan further
to suspicion of a fire in a nuclear zone, which turned
out, after verification, to be unfounded. The second
led to the loss of the NPP’s external electrical power
supplies for more than two days, with the safety functions
nevertheless remaining fulfilled. ASN considers that the
site must ensure the quality and completeness of the
information transmitted, from the detection of such
events through to their closure.
With regard to radiation protection, the site has embraced
the Everest approach for entering the installation’s nuclear
zones in standard working overalls and ASN notes that
the radiological exposure of the workers was satisfactorily
controlled during the two reactor outages.
ASN considers that the organisation set up by the site
for environmental protection and waste management
enables the corresponding requirements to be satisfied
on the whole.
Paluel nuclear power plant
ASNconsiders that the nuclear safety, radiation protection
and environmental protection performance of the
Paluel NPP is, on the whole, in line with ASN’s general
assessment of EDF’s performance.
The site has confirmed its satisfactory performance in
operational management of the reactors. ASN notes
nevertheless that the error reduction techniques relative
to the preparation and retrospective verification of
the operating, radiation protection and maintenance
activities are insufficiently applied by the operators.
Cross-site corrective actions must be taken to remedy
this situation. ASNnotes an improvement – whichmust
be maintained over the long term – in the integration of
the analyses produced by the on-site EDF service tasked
with conducting an independent safety verification.
A highlight of 2015 was the first part of the 10-year
outage of reactor 2 which involved major maintenance
operations and systemmodifications aiming in particular
at improving the safety of the reactor. The condenser
was affected by a significant industrial fire in the non-
nuclear part of the installation. In addition, a lifting
beam intended for handling the steam generators fell
accidentally, without causing any injuries; ASN asked
that a third-party investigation be carried out on this
issue. With regard to nuclear safety, ASN considers
that the other work programmes were carried out
satisfactorily during the two reactor outages in 2015.
ASNdoes however note that increased rigour is necessary
in the use of air locks for certain operations involving
a contamination risk and that the analyses relating to
fire risks must fully meet the particularities of each
activity. ASN draws the site’s attention to the need to have
sufficient resources in 2016, particularly with regard
to the reactor outage programme, which includes two
simultaneous 10-year outages.
With regard to environmental protection, ASN considers
that the site must step up its organisation for ensuring
the management, servicing and maintenance of the
radioactive effluent storage tanks. In addition, the
file submitted by EDF to request modifications in the
site’s discharge prescriptions has been made available
for public consultation and its examination will be
continued in 2016.
Penly nuclear power plant
ASN considers that the nuclear safety and radiation
protection performance of the Penly site stands out
positively with respect to its overall assessment of EDF.
The site’s environmental protection performance is in
line with ASN’s general assessment of EDF.
With regard to nuclear safety, ASN considers that the
site maintains a satisfactory level in a context where
the volume of maintenance work remained low. ASN
considers that particular attention must be paid to the
preparation of the operational control activities in order
to step up implementation of error reduction techniques
when working on the equipment. The increase in the
number of limited-impact deviations reflects a lack of
rigour in application of the operating procedures.
CAEN DIVISION
ASN inspection at the Paluel NPP, November 2015.
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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