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The licensee must prove in its decommissioning file that
the decommissioning operations are carried out in as
short a time as possible.
The decommissioning phase may be preceded by a
decommissioning preparation stage, provided for in
the initial operating licence. This preparatory phase
in particular allows removal of part of the radioactive
and chemical substances as well as preparation for the
decommissioning operations (readying of premises,
preparation of worksites, training of teams, etc.). It
is also during this preparatory phase that installation
characterisation operations can be carried out: production
of radiological maps, collection of pertinent data
(operating history) with a view to decommissioning,
etc. For example, the fuel of a nuclear reactor can be
removed during this phase.
ASN will ensure that no decommissioning operations
are carried out during this preparatory phase and that
the duration of this phase does not exceed a few years.
ASN recommends that the licensee should inform the
CLI of the planned operations in the decommissioning
preparation phase, regularly inform the CLI of the
progress of operations and present the results once
they are completed.
As part of its oversight duties, ASN monitors the
implementation of the decommissioning operations
as prescribed by the decommissioning decree.
The Environment Code provides that – as is the case
for all other basic nuclear installations – the safety of
a facility undergoing decommissioning be reviewed
periodically, usually every 10 years. ASN’s objective,
through these periodic safety reviews, is to check that the
level of safety of the installation remains acceptable until
it is delicensed, with the implementation of measures
proportionate to the risks presented by the installation
during decommissioning.
2 years
PHASES
in the life of a BNI
Decommissioning
files
Operation of the BNI
Decommissioning
preparation
operations
Creation
autorisation
decree
Final shutdown
notification
Final shutdown:
the installation
can no longer function
Operation subject
to ASN approval
Decommissioning
decree
Decommissioning
Guide to the final shutdown and
decommissioning of the BNIs
The new version of Guide No.6, whose content has been
updated, was published in July 2015. The main modifications
introduced by this update are:
• integration of the new requirements of the Order of
7th February 2012 concerning justification of the time
frame – which must be as short as possible – between
final shutdown of operation of the facility and its
decommissioning, the objectives with regard to the final
state reached on completion of decommissioning, and the
conditions for updating the decommissioning plan during
operation of the installation in order to look ahead to its
future decommissioning;
• addition of details on the conditions of examination by ASN and
the relationships between the technical examination and the
external consultations (environmental authority, public inquiry);
• addition of several recommendations concerning “good
practices” observed by ASN;
• addition of details on the conditions for maintaining operation
of equipment, structures or installations lying within the
perimeter of a BNI that is in final shutdown status;
• addition of details concerning the decommissioning
preparation operations;
• use of the vocabulary of the Order of 7th February 2012
and of the ASN resolution concerning the study of the
management and assessment of the waste produced in the
BNIs (“areas where nuclear waste production is possible”,
“delicensing of waste zoning”, etc.).
Guide No.6 will be updated again in 2016 after publication of
the TECV implementing texts.
TO BE NOTED
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CHAPTER 15:
SAFE DECOMMISSIONING OF BASIC NUCLEAR INSTALLATIONS
ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2015