Spent fuel testing laboratory The Spent Fuel Testing Laboratory (LECI) was built and commissioned in November 1959. It was declared a BNI on 8 January 1968 by the CEA. An extension was authorised in 2000. The LECI (BNI 50) constitutes an expert assessment aid for the nuclear licensees. Its role is to study the properties of materials used in the nuclear sector, whether irradiated or not. From the safety aspect, this facility must meet the same requirements as the nuclear installations of the “fuel cycle”, but the safety approach is proportional to the risks and drawbacks it presents. Further to the last periodic safety review, ASN issued the resolution of 30 November 2016 (amended on 26 June 2017) regulating the continued operation of the facility through technical prescriptions relating in particular to the improvement plan that CEA had undertaken to implement. Some of the CEA’s commitments have not been fulfilled within the deadlines. In particular, the licensee has requested pushing back of the deadlines for removal of the radioactive substances whose utilisation cannot be justified, and the implementation where necessary of measures to place and maintain the BNI in a safe condition in the event of fire in the areas adjacent to the nuclear areas. The decommissioning of Célimène (unit formerly intended for the examination of fuels from reactor EL3) is also concerned by this request. The examination of the provisions relating to fire led ASN to decide to issue a compliance resolution to regulate performance of the works initially expected for the end of 2019. In view of the risks and the work already undertaken by the licensee’s personnel, the corresponding technical requirement must be met before 31 December 2026. ASNR will be particularly attentive to the monitoring and implementation of the necessary actions to meet this deadline. Since the end of 2022, BNI 72 no longer accepts irradiating waste from the CEA Saclay site. Consequently, the CEA has started a new project baptised “GDILE”, a French acronym for “Management of irradiated waste from LECI”, in order to process, package and remove the irradiating waste (existing and future) without saturating the storage capacities of LECI. CEA initiated reflections in 2024 to redefine and size this project, and they will continue in 2025 in collaboration with ASNR. In this context, in 2024 ASN started examining the file for the facility’s second periodic safety review which CEA submitted in December 2023. The inspections of LECI carried out in 2024 were considered satisfactory, even though improvements are required in taking account of risks associated with the use of lifting equipment and with static containment. The time taken to respond to ASNR’s requests remains a point requiring particular attention. Poséidon irradiator Authorised in 1972, the Poséidon facility (BNI 77) is an irradiator comprising a storage pool for cobalt-60 sources, partially surmounted by an irradiation bunker. The BNI moreover includes another bunkered irradiator baptised Pagure, and the Vulcain accelerator. This facility is used for studies and qualification services for the equipment installed in the nuclear reactors, notably thanks to an immersible chamber, as well as for the radiosterilisation of medical products. The main risk in the facility is of personnel exposure to ionising radiation due to the presence of very high-activity sealed sources. ASN has regulated the continued operation of the facility following its periodic safety review through ASN Chairman’s resolution CODEP-CLG-2019-048416 of 22 November 2019. The major areas for improvement are in particular the resistance of the building to seismic and climatic hazards (snow and wind in particular), and the monitoring of ageing of the Poséidon storage pool. In 2024, further to its examination of the periodic safety review concluding report submitted by CEA at the end of 2021, ASN considered that it had no objection to the continued operation of BNI 77. Attention must nevertheless be paid to monitoring the ageing of the pool. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety of the facility is satisfactory. ASN has observed in the course of its inspections that the licensee provides adequate responses within the set deadlines to its commitments resulting from the preceding periodic safety review (commitments made by licensee, technical requirements or requests from ASN), particularly regarding the management of fire loads. It also underlines with approval the putting in place of visual internal communication tools which facilitate the operators’ understanding of the operational management operations. Improvements are nevertheless required in the management of sources. This is because in 2024 the facility’s pool was again contaminated by tritium during the provisioning of new cobalt-60 sources. This event highlights the need to reinforce the measures taken following a similar contamination in 2021. 66 ABSTRACTS – ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2024 Regional overview of nuclear safety and radiation protection ÎLE-DE-FRANCE
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