ORANO ASN considers that Orano’s current efforts, both to improve the overall working of the existing facilities and to anticipate the future issues of the cycle back-end, as a result of the Government’s announcements in early 2024 regarding reprocessing-recycling strategy post-2040, are positive. In 2024, on the La Hague site, Orano completed replacement of the previous fission products evaporator-concentrators, in which corrosion was more advanced than imagined at the design stage. The projects aiming to safeguard the management of radioactive materials and waste on the La Hague site continued. On the Tricastin site, the construction work on the containers maintenance facility 2 (AMC2) is continuing with a view to commissioning in 2025; that on the extension to the Georges Besse II plant (BNI 168) began in September 2024, following a public inquiry in the spring of 2024. Finally, deployment of the action plan intended to overcome the production difficulties at the Melox production plant in Marcoule is continuing. ASN considers that these points contribute to the continued improvements to the operation of all the facilities. On 15 October 2024, during the plenary meeting of the High Committee for Transparency and Information on Nuclear Safety (HCTISN), Orano announced that it was taking over the project to build new “underwater” storage capacities for spent fuels, with a view to commissioning the first pond before 2040, in place of the centralised storage pool project, hitherto promoted by EDF. ASN considers that the studies leading to the transmission to ASN of a Safety Option Dossier on the new spent fuel “underwater” storage capacities in 2026 must be continued and intensified with a high level of rigour, in the same way as those started in 2024 on the continued operation of the existing facilities, in the light of the issues associated with the ageing of all the facilities, in terms of both safety and the robustness of the “fuel cycle”. Orano shall also ensure that the resources committed to these new projects are not to the detriment of other projects to improve support functions or process legacy radioactive substances stored on the site, which have just as high a priority. Installations in operation ASN considers that the level of safety of the Orano sites at La Hague and Tricastin remained satisfactory. ASN observes good management of control and operation, while calling for greater rigour concerning adherence to technical prescriptions and periodic checks. With regard to the Melox plant, ASN considers that its safety level is on the whole satisfactory and takes a positive view of compliance with its production targets as well as stabilisation of production of “MOX scrap” by comparison with 2023. Personnel radiation protection With regard to radiation protection, ASN is encouraged by the operation of the expertise centre within the facilities, even if there are still radiation protection deviations to be dealt with by means of specific ongoing action plans. ASN welcomes the work to harmonise practices carried out on the Tricastin platform. ASN remains vigilant with regard to the Melox facility, owing to the high number of preventive and corrective maintenance operations carried out on the facility’s equipment, against a backdrop of a major maintenance programme intended to enhance the availability of the facilities. These operations entail dosimetric risks that are often significant. Environmental protection On the La Hague sites, with regard to measures taken to control non-radiological risks, ASN considers that across the facility in-depth lessons must be learned from the occurrence of a leak from a nitric acid tank in an outdoor reagents storage unit. ASN also notes recurring deviations concerning management of coolant fluids and fluorinated greenhouse gases, as a result of which Orano must improve the steps taken to prevent, detect and reduce the corresponding emissions to the lowest level possible. The safety reassessments of the facilities ASN considers that the organisation put into place by Orano for evaluating the conformity of its facilities and for reassessing their safety during the periodic safety reviews, is satisfactory. It nonetheless urges Orano to increase its vigilance concerning the implementation of the action plans drawn up during each periodic safety review and compliance with the deadlines for the regulatory requirements and the commitments made. Generally speaking, ASN considers that Orano must take advantage of the upcoming periodic safety reviews to reinforce and consolidate the safety improvements made to the facilities and anticipate management of the modifications given the prospects for the continued operation of the “fuel cycle” facilities. These reassessments shall in particular contribute to deploying a robust ageing management approach, including for the utilities or support functions directly or indirectly needed for the operation of the facilities’ safety systems. Legacy waste retrieval and conditioning and decommissioning on the La Hague site Large quantities of legacy waste at La Hague are not stored in accordance with current safety standards and present major risks. The retrieval and conditioning of this legacy waste (WRC) is a key step in the progress of decommissioning of definitively shut down plants. ASN periodically monitors the progress of these complex projects and takes a positive view of good assimilation of the project maturity assessment by Orano, as well as the deployment of management tools. ASN considers that Orano must nonetheless make progress concerning the robustness of the waste retrieval and processing scenarios and in ensuring the reliability of the operational waste retrieval processes, in order to guarantee the schedules for the various WRC and dismantling projects announced. ASN also considers that Orano must make progress in anticipating the interactions between the facilities in operation and certain equipment in the facilities being dismantled, which are currently still in use for operational purposes. The decommissioning of the Tricastin facilities is progressing on the whole satisfactorily, notably in 2024 with the end of the detailed studies for decommissioning of the diffusion cascades in the Georges Besse I plant. However, Orano must improve management of the legacy material on the site, notably in BNI 105, where there is significant delay in removing materials and waste from storage in areas 61 and 79. Legacy waste retrieval and conditioning and decommissioning on the La Hague site The ASN assessments of each nuclear facility are detailed in the Regional Overview in this report. ASN Assessments ABSTRACTS – ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2024 25
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