The unlicensed operation of a basic nuclear installation is prohibited by French law and the relevant regulations. Therefore, the above-mentioned decree of 11 December 1963, implementing law 61-842 of 2 August 1961, as modified, on the abatment of atmospheric pollution and offensive odours, in particular provides for an authorisation decree procedure followed by a series of licences issued at key stages in the life of these facilities: loading with fuel or pre-commissioning, commissioning, possible modification of the installation, final shutdown and dismantling. The ministers in charge of nuclear safety (at present the ministers for the Environment and for Industry) may also at all times ask the operator to review the safety of its installation.

BNIs are also subject to the requirements of decree 95-540 of 4 May 1995 concerning discharges of liquid and gaseous effluent from and water intake by basic nuclear installations implementing on the one hand the above-mentioned law of 2 August 1961 and, on the other, the law 92-3 of 3 January 1992 on water, as modified, which is codified in articles L. 210-1 to L. 217-1 of the Environment Code. This decree, modified in particular by article 3 of decree 2002-460 of 4 April 2002 concerning the general protection of individuals against the dangers arising from ionising radiation, sets the licensing procedure for liquid and gaseous effluent discharge and water intake for these installations.

A person operating a BNI without the required licences, or in breach of the provisions of these licences, is liable to administrative and legal sanctions. These are primarily stipulated in articles 5 to 7-1 of the above-mentioned law of 2 August 1961 and articles 12 and 13 of the above-mentioned decree of 11 December 1963 regarding breaches of the requirements of these texts or the authorisation decree, and by articles L. 216-6 to L. 216-13 of the Environment Code, which codify articles 22 to 30 of the above-mentioned law of 3 January 1992, concerning violations of the regulations on effluent discharge and water intake.

Application of these various procedures starts with siting and plant design and ends with ultimate dismantling of the installation. The installation must first have been identified as a BNI as defined in article 2 of the above mentioned decree of 11 December 1963 and its implementing texts, that is the order of 27 April 1982 setting the characteristics of particle accelerators as basic nuclear installations and the order of 11 March 1996 setting the limits above which plants preparing, manufacturing or transforming radioactive substances, and facilities designed for the disposal, storage or use of radioactive substances, including waste, are to be considered basic nuclear installations.

Well before applying for a BNI authorisation decree, the operator informs the administration of the site(s) on which it plans to build this installation.

This analysis deals with socio-economic aspects and safety. If the planned BNI is intended for power generation, the General Directorate for Energy and Raw Materials of the Ministry for Industry will be directly involved. For its part, the ASN analyses the safety-related characteristics of the sites: seismicity, hydrogeology, industrial environment, cold water sources, etc.

In application of part IV of law 2002-276 of 27 February 2002 on local democracy (codified in articles L. 121-1 to L. 121-15 of the Environment Code), decree 2002-1275 of 22 October 2002 on the organisation of public debates and the National Public Debates Commission (codified in articles R. 121-1 to R. 121-16 of the Environment Code) specifies that creation of a BNI is subject to the public debate procedure:
–systematically, when dealing with a new nuclear electricity generating site or a new site not generating electricity and costing more than € 300 million;
– possibly, when dealing with a new site not generating electricity from nuclear power and costing between € 150 million and € 300 million.