Phénix reactor – CEA CENTRE The Phénix NPP (BNI 71) is a demonstration fast breeder reactor cooled with liquid sodium. This reactor, with an electrical power rating of 250 MWe, was definitively shut down in 2009 and is currently being decommissioned. The major decommissioning phases are regulated by Decree 2016-739 of 2 June 2016. ASN resolution 2016DC-0564 of 7 July 2016 sets the CEA various milestones and decommissioning operations. Removal of the irradiated fuel and equipment continued in 2024. However, the reference decommissioning scenario for the facility, set by the Decommissioning Decree of June 2016, is currently being redefined by the licensee. This new definition mainly concerns the phasing of the decommissioning operations to favour treatment of the sodium, in accordance with the decommissioning strategy for all the CEA facilities. CEA plans to file a request to modify the Decommissioning Decree of BNI 71, with the aim of integrating this new reference scenario. Construction of the NOAH facility, for which the commissioning application was filed in 2022 and which will ensure part of the treatment of sodium from Phénix and other CEA facilities, made progress in 2024. The operating tests prior to commissioning, which CEA plans for 2028, continued. The facility continues to report deviations concerning compliance with certain physical-chemical parameters of the aqueous discharges. The licensee plans taking lasting measures to guarantee compliance with the physicalchemical limits of aqueous discharges in 2025. The 2022 periodic safety review report for BNI 71 is currently being examined by ASNR. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection in the Phénix plant is broadly satisfactory. The recurrent actions concerning the periodic inspections and tests and the monitoring of activities performed by outside contractors are broadly satisfactory. The licensee must nevertheless make sure that it meets its commitments within the deadlines it has set. Diadem facility – CEA CENTRE The Diadem facility, currently under construction, shall be dedicated to the storage of containers of radioactive waste emitting beta and gamma radiation, or waste rich in alpha emitters, pending construction of facilities for the disposal of long-lived waste (LLW), or low- and intermediatelevel short-lived waste (LL/ILW-SL) whose characteristics – especially the dose rate – mean they cannot be accepted as-is by the existing disposal facilities. One inspection was carried out in 2024 focusing primarily on the methodology and performance of the fall qualification tests of the future storage containers. ASN considers that the CEA’s efforts to fulfil its responsibilities as nuclear licensee have enabled it to take over project management, but further improvements are required in the identification of the actions and expectations of the Protection-Important Activities (PIAs), and in the qualification of the equipment items and the technical control of the PIAs. Moreover, the control and verification criteria for the specified requirements need to be more clearly defined. ASN points out that this facility is destined to play a key role in the CEA’s overall decommissioning and waste management strategy, insofar as it is the only facility planned for the interim storage of “intermediate-level long-lived” (ILW-LL) waste packages and LL/ILW-SL waste. Assessment of the CEA Marcoule centre ASN noted during its inspections in 2024 that the organisation and measures put in place by the licensee to guarantee control of the risks associated with external hazards are broadly satisfactory. The organisational setup for managing emergency situations can be improved. Improvements are required in the defining of emergency management functions and the associated requirements, the tracking of documentation and equipment, and the formalising and tracking of the actions decided upon on the basis of feedback from the exercises. ASN considers that the Marcoule centre has taken ownership of the policy for the protection of CEA’s interests by adapting and applying it to its local particularities. Improvements are required in the allocation of resources, the prioritising of actions, and complying with the indicators of its action plan. Improvements are also required in the assessment of the measures to correct deviations. In the area of TSR, ASN considers that packaging maintenance is carried out correctly. In 2020, the CEA submitted its study on the sanitary and environmental evaluation of the liquid and gaseous chemical discharges from the Marcoule platform. Through resolution CODEP-MRS-2023-013061 of 9 March 2023, ASN has required CEA, in association with the other licensees of the Marcoule platform installations, to have an independent organisation perform a third-party assessment focusing on CEA’s methodology for evaluating the impact on health and the environmental caused by the liquid and gaseous discharges from all the nuclear activities on the Marcoule site. CEA presented the results of this assessment in November 2024 and they will be examined by ASNR. The technical-economic study of the measures to avoid or reduce the discharge of potentially polluted stormwater and its impact on the environment was submitted to ASN in late 2020. The licensee finalised deployment of the measures adopted following the study in 2022. ASN expects the licensee to give it feedback concerning their effectiveness. ASN authorised updating of the On-site Emergency Plan (PUI) of the CEA Marcoule centre in December 2024. As the PUI is common to the BNIs and to the individual facilities of the DBNI, its implementation is also subject to the approval of the Defence Nuclear Safety Authority (ASND). With regard to the conformity of the emergency management building – Centralised Surveillance of Marcoule (SCM) – the examination focuses on the substantiating elements provided by CEA to demonstrate compliance with the safety requirements defined for the “hardened safety core” equipment in ASN resolution 2015-DC-0481 of 8 January 2015. ASNR shall be expecting to receive additional information. ASN considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection of the CEA Marcoule centre is broadly satisfactory. ABSTRACTS – ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2024 85 Regional overview of nuclear safety and radiation protection OCCITANIE
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