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2.2.4 Role of the ASN in the preparation of emergency plans | |
| a) On-site plan approval and supervision of application Since January 1991, and in the same way as the safety analysis report and the general operating rules, the PUI is among the safety documents which have to be submitted to the ASN by the licensee at least six months before the installation of radioactive materials in a BNI. In this context, the PUI is assessed by the IRSN and the relevant Advisory Committee expresses its opinion on it. The ASN monitors correct application of the on-site emergency plans, in particular through inspections (see chapter 4). b) Participation in off-site plan preparation Under application of the 13 September 2005 orders concerning the PPI and the ORSEC plan, the prefect is responsible for preparing and approving the PPI. He is assisted by the ASN, which supplies the basic technical elements, as derived from the IRSN assessment, taking account of the most recent available data on serious accidents and dispersion of radioactive or chemical materials and ensuring consistency in this respect between the PPI and the PUI. Considerable work has been done in recent years to take account of accidents which could cause a radioactive release leading to a response level being exceeded off the site within less than 6 hours. A response reflex phase, containing special provisions enabling the prefect to initiate a response, has been introduced into the PPIs. The licensee is provided with objective criteria approved by the ASN and comprising predetermined and easily accessible parameters. Definition of the response levels is based on the most recent international recommendations and, since 2003, has been stipulated in regulatory requirements (see point 2.1.3.). As part of this PPI overhaul, the ASN approved the rapidly evolving accident scenarios defined by the licensees. |
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2.3 | Accident simulation exercises |
| It is important not to wait for a significant accident to actually occur in France before testing the emergency response provisions described, under real conditions. Exercises are periodically organised as training for emergency teams and to test resources and organisational structures with a view to identifying weak points. In practice, carrying out an emergency exercise every three years on each site with a BNI would seem to be a fair compromise between staff training and the time needed to make changes to the response organisation. Since the 1980s therefore, the number of exercises has risen significantly and in 2005, reached a level of about ten a year for civil installations, as shown on the following graph: | ||
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Review meetings are organised in each emergency command post immediately after each exercise. Along with the other participants in the emergency exercise, the ASN aims to identify the good and bad practices highlighted during the experience feedback meetings in order to improve the response organisation as a whole. One major benefit of the emergency exercises has been to improve procedures and policies. For example, to avoid exposure of the personnel in charge of distributing iodine tablets during the release phase, the authorities decided on preventive distribution of iodine tablets within a 10 km radius around nuclear power plants. Furthermore, to take account of rapidly evolving accidents in which the authorities do not have time to react, the decision was taken to incorporate a reflex phase in the PPIs asking the populations to take shelter by alerting them through a network of sirens, which can be activated by the nuclear licensee on behalf of the prefect. |
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