Protection (ASNR) will verify, during the examination of the decommissioning files for these reactors, submitted by EDF at the end of 2022 and still being examined, that the decommissioning operations will be carried out under suitable conditions of safety and radiation protection, within controlled time frames. For the Chinon A2 reactor, in 2024, EDF continued the decommissioning preparation operations situated outside the reactor pressure vessel, particularly as concerns removal of the shells from the heat exchanger premises, and continued the investigations inside the pressure vessel. The shells have been removed from the four heat exchanger rooms. EDF also continued the decommissioning of the Chinon A3 heat exchangers. The action plan undertaken by EDF following water infiltrations in several parts of Chinon A1, Chinon A2 and the AMI (BNI 94) in 2023 turned out to be insufficient to prevent new infiltrations during a heavy storm episode in June 2024. This plan has subsequently been reinforced, in particular through additional curative and preventive measures, such as waterproofing work and updating the emergency procedures in the event of a weather alert. ASN considers that EDF must continue its efforts to improve the monitoring and management of infiltrations and the civil engineering structure maintenance work. ASNR will be particularly attentive to the implementation of the action plan in 2025. ASN considers that the level of safety of the Chinon nuclear installations undergoing decommissioning (Chinon A1, A2 and A3) is satisfactory. The inspections carried out in 2024 revealed good preparation of the decommissioning worksites, good upkeep of a worksite to ensure safe conditions linked to the asbestos risk and meeting the defined schedules. Furthermore, the organisation in place to prevent and address the risk of counterfeiting, falsification and suspicions of fraud was found to be operational and capable of dealing with the situations encountered. Lastly, additional information is required to clarify the lists of applicable Protection Important Components (PICs) for protection of the interests. “NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE” FACILITIES Inter-regional fresh fuel warehouse Commissioned in 1978, the Chinon Inter-Regional Fuel Warehouse (MIR) is a facility for storing fresh fuel assemblies pending their utilisation in various EDF reactors. It constitutes BNI 99. Along with the Bugey MIR, it contributes to the management of flows of fuel assembly supplies for the reactors. The facility was equipped with a new handling crane in 2019 and operations have resumed since 2020, with the reception and storage of fresh fuel assemblies. EDF reported no significant events in 2024 and responded to the requests made further to the inspection conducted in 2023. The second periodic safety review concluding report is to be given to ASNR in 2025 and the facility will undergo an inspection. 2. Inerting in this instance is a process enabling the radiological activity of the magnesian waste to be contained in an enclosure of specific materials to allow risk-free transportation and storage. RESEARCH FACILITIES UNDERGOING DECOMMISSIONING Irradiated materials facility The Irradiated Material Facility (AMI), which was declared and commissioned in 1964, is situated on the Chinon nuclear site and operated by EDF. This facility (BNI 94) is being decommissioned. It was intended essentially for performing examinations and expert assessments on activated or contaminated materials from pressurised water reactors. The expert assessment activities were entirely transferred in 2015 to a new facility on the site, the Lidec. Decree 2020-499 for AMI decommissioning was published on 30 April 2020 and the new RGEs were approved by ASN in April 2021, thereby enabling the Decree to enter into application. ASN also subjected the starting of several future decommissioning operations to its approval. Further to the updating of the resolution regulating the installation’s discharge limits in July 2022, a new discharge monitoring system has been put into service and decommissioning operations have started that include equipment cutting-up and interventions in several facilities. The legacy magnesian waste from the expert assessments of certain parts requires inerting operations(2) in order to meet the disposal criteria of Andra, the French Radioactive Waste Management Agency. As the characterisation results differed from what was initially expected, the necessary waiver was obtained from Andra in late 2022, thereby allowing the waste to be accepted. A work school was set up in early 2023. During an inspection in 2024, before the resuming the inerting work, ASN observed that the licensee had correctly implemented certain fire risk control measures relating to this project. The inerting operations were completed in 2024 and the transfers of waste to Andra began in late 2024. ASN granted a decommissioning authorisation for the highly active liquid effluent systems in August 2023. Due to technical and contractual difficulties encountered by EDF in 2022, these operations – initially planned for 2023 – were rescheduled and they began in 2024. The treatment of the legacy chemical products present in controlled areas continued and the transfer of this nuclear waste, which began in 2022, is still in progress. EDF resumed its “Thermip” pollution monitoring (nonradiological pollution by hydrocarbons and naphthalene) in 2023 and supplemented its management plan in 2024 with technical elements to be approved by ASN. Examination of this file will continue in 2025. As was the case with certain areas of the Chinon reactors A1 and A3, infiltrations were observed in certain aeras of the AMI during heavy rainfalls in 2023 and 2024. The overall action plan implemented by EDF includes measures specific to the AMI, notably pumping and on-site storage of the waters that infiltrated into the basement. In April and October 2024, ASN issued two authorisations allowing EDF to store this ABSTRACTS – ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2024 53 Regional overview of nuclear safety and radiation protection CENTRE-VAL DE LOIRE
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