Bugey site The Bugey industrial site comprises various facilities, including the Bugey NPP operated by EDF on the municipality of Saint-Vulbas in the Ain département, 35 km east of Lyon. It comprises four Pressurised Water Reactors (PWRs), each with a power of 900 Megawatts electric (MWe), commissioned in 1978 and 1979. Reactors 2 and 3 constitute BNI 78 and reactors 4 and 5 constitute BNI 89. The site also accommodates Bugey 1, a graphite-moderated Gas-Cooled Reactor (GCR) commissioned in 1972, shut down in 1994 and currently undergoing decommissioning, the Activated waste conditioning and interim storage facility (Iceda) and the Inter-Regional Warehouse (MIR) for fuel storage. Lastly, the site accommodates one of the regional bases of the Nuclear Rapid Intervention Force (FARN), the special emergency response force created by EDF in 2011 following the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident in Japan. Its role is to intervene in pre-accident or accident situations, on any NPP in France, by providing additional human resources and emergency equipment. Bugey nuclear power plant Reactors 2, 3, 4 and 5 in operation ASN considers that the performance of the Bugey NPP with regard to nuclear safety, radiation protection and environmental protection is in line with ASN’s general assessment of the EDF plants. With regard to nuclear safety, ASN notes that the facilities have been operated and maintained relatively satisfactorily despite an industrial programme with a particularly heavy workload. The fourth ten-yearly outage of reactor 3, the last for the site, was affected by many unforeseeable difficulties which considerably extended its duration. ASN discovered several deviations in the management of Pressure Equipment (PE) in 2024, particularly during this fourth tenyearly outage, revealing the weaknesses in this area. The configuring of systems and the management of periodic tests and requalification tests have been the subject of EDF improvement plans since 2023, which must be continued. Nevertheless, ASN noted improvements in prevention of the risk of introducing foreign materials and management of the fire risk compared with the previous years. ASN considers that the radiation protection performance of the NPP is improving and is now in line with ASN’s general assessment of EDF plant performance. Although occupational exposure is controlled, ASN nevertheless still notes shortcomings in the radiation protection culture of the workers. Improvements are also required in the tracking of the radiation protection measuring aids provided for the workers and the cordoning off of zones that are, or risk becoming, contaminated. ASN conducted 339 inspections in the Auvergne‑Rhône‑Alpes region in 2024, of which 115 were in the Bugey, Saint‑Alban, Cruas‑Meysse and Tricastin Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs), 100 in plants, research facilities and sites being decommissioned, 89 in small-scale nuclear activities, 15 in the Radioactive Substance Transport (TSR) sector, and 20 in organisations and laboratories approved by ASN. ASN also carried out 22 days of labour inspections in the four NPPs and on the Creys-Malville site. In 2024, 21 significant events rated level 1 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) were reported to ASN, of which 19 occurred in BNIs and two in small-scale nuclear activities. Furthermore, one Significant Radiation Protection Event (ESR) at the Tricastin NPP was rated level 2 on the INES scale and one event involving the irradiation by error of a healthy zone of a patient during a radiotherapy treatment was rated level 2 on the ASN-SRO scale (scale specific to radiation protection events affecting patients undergoing a radiotherapy procedure). Lastly, inspection of one industrial radiography company resulted in the ASN inspectors issuing a violation report concerning the conditions of prevention of the occupational risks associated with ionising radiation. This same inspection detected a potential case of fraud in the provision of a service, which was reported to the Public Prosecutor under Article 40 of the Penal Procedure Code. Auvergne‑ Rhône‑Alpes The Lyon division regulates nuclear safety, radiation protection and the transport of radioactive substances in the 12 départements of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. 339 inspections 23 significant events rated level 1 or higher 38 ABSTRACTS – ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2024
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