240 / 536
CHÂLONS-EN-CHAMPAGNE DIVISION
1. ASSESSMENT BY DOMAIN
1.1 The nuclear installations
Nogent-sur-Seine nuclear power plant
ASN considers that the nuclear safety, radiation protection
and environmental protection performance of the Nogent-
sur-Seine NPP is, on the whole, in line with its general
assessment of EDF performance.
With regard to the operational control of the reactors
and operating rigour, ASN considers that the site’s
performance is generally satisfactory except during the
restarting of reactor 2 after its outage for maintenance,
during which five significant events were notified on
account of organisational deficiencies in the operational
control of the installations or equipment tests. As a
general rule, the site must better formalise the rules
applicable to the preparation of operational control
activities and shifts changes.
With regard to maintenance, ASN considers that the
scheduled and unscheduled outages were on the whole
satisfactorily managed from the safety aspect. ASN does
nevertheless note shortcomings in the preparation of the
activities and occasionally in the organisational measures
adopted. Some events underline the importance of
providing outside contractors with appropriate operating
documents that are in conformity with the equipment.
Improvements are moreover expected in the tracking
of the files for maintenance operations carried out by
outside contractors while the reactors are in operation.
With regard to radiation protection, several events that
occurred in 2015 – particularly one concerning a spot
contamination of a worker which led to skin exposure
exceeding a quarter of the regulatory annual individual
dose limit(event rated level 1 on the INES scale) –
highlight the need for the site to reinforce its radiation
protection culture.
Lastly, with respect to environmental protection,
ASN observes that shortcomings in the integration of
experience feedback and a lack of rigour resulted in
failure to avoid occasional discharges
via
a discharge
channel not intended for that purpose.
Chooz nuclear power plant
ASNconsiders that the nuclear safety, radiation protection
and environmental protection performance of the
Chooz B NPP is, on the whole, in line with its general
assessment of EDF’s performance.
ASNobserves that, despite themeasures taken to reinforce
and stabilise the operating teams, the situation remains
tenuous with respect to the available human resources.
More generally, the operating experience feedback from
events occurring on the site must be improved.
With regard to maintenance, ASN is still observing
shortcomings in the preparation or quality of operations.
These shortcomingswere the root causeof several significant
events in 2015 and led to delays that deteriorated the
working conditions during the reactor outages.
With regard to radiation protection, ASN considers that
the actions taken to improve the performance of the site in
terms of radiological cleanness of themaintenanceworksites
have so far not been sufficient to prevent the renewal of
recurrent deviations, such as noncompliance with the
rules for donning personal protective equipment and self-
monitoring for entering or leaving areas that could be
contaminated. Furthermore, a lack of rigour in individual
behaviours hinders the site’s performance in this area.
Lastly, with regard to environmental protection, ASN
considers that operating experience feedback is adequately
integrated, although there are still some traceability and
recording deviations. The site must continue its efforts
in this area.
Labour inspection in the nuclear power plants
ASNcontinueditsinspectionsofhealthandsafetyconditions
given the large number of maintenance activities.
The health and safety measures taken by the licensee are
satisfactory in the majority of cases. Nevertheless, ASN
still observes that the risk analyses prior to maintenance
operations are insufficient and that theworking conditions
do not always minimise the risks for the personnel.
Lastly, the year 2015wasmarked inparticular by several falls
fromheight and several cases of radioactive contamination
on the sites.
The Soulaines-Dhuys waste repository
and the Bure laboratory
ASN considers that operation of the CSA repository is
satisfactory, in line with the previous years.
In 2015 Andra completed the modification work on the
package inspection facility designed toprovide the facility
withhigh-performance inspection ressources to check the
quality of the packages receivedby it. The commissioning
by it, planned for 2016, is subject to ASN approval.
Construction of the disposal structures of tranche 9, for
which ASN has given its agreement, continued in 2015.
ASN also gave its agreement in 2015 on themodification
of the general operating rules of the CSA, with the aimof
integrating the updating of the regulatory requirements,
including those of the BNI Order of 7th February 2012,
and making these rules more practical and usable.
ASN considers that works conducted by Andra in the
underground laboratory at Bure continued in 2015with
a good standard of quality comparable with that of the
preceding years.
240
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