At the Mélox plant in Marcoule, ASN has been particularly attentive to changes in dosimetry. Against the backdrop of the plant's capacity increase, the measures taken to ensure radiation protection and to maintain the quality of operation will be the focal points of ASN regulation over the coming years.

Finally, the efforts devoted every year to regulating the installations on the La Hague site confirm ASN's opinion of the licensee's rigour and responsibility. However, the recovery of legacy waste and the shutdown and decommissioning of a number of old facilities in the UP2 400 plant are among the top priorities and will receive close and sustained attention from ASN.

Manufacture of the fuel and its subsequent reprocessing after it has passed through the nuclear reactors constitute the fuel cycle. In 2006, the fuel cycle installations experienced no significant safety problems. However, against a background of increasingly severe economic constraints, the Nuclear Safety Authority is ensuring that the technical solutions chosen by industry have and will continue to have no adverse impact on safety and radiation protection of the workers, the population and the environment.

Since all the licensees in the French nuclear fuel cycle were integrated into the AREVA group, the changes to the various installations are more consistent and efforts are being made to maintain a satisfactory level of safety.

In this respect, a turning point was reached on the Tricastin site in 2006, with the beginning of the procedures to create the new centrifugation enrichment plant and the announced shutdown of old installations such as the Comurhex BNI or Eurodif. ASN considers these changes to be positive and is monitoring correct performance of the corresponding procedures.

On the Romans site, ASN notes that progress has been made with regard to safety and operations and hopes that the production and management of the waste generated by the site will also follow this same trend. In any case, ASN will be attentive to ensuring that the progress achieved is sustainable.