ASN Report 2017

143 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Chapter 04  - Regulation of nuclear activities and exposure to ionising radiation resolution 2017-DC-0588 of 6th April 2017, ASN defined the conditions for water intake and consumption, effluent discharge and environmental monitoring applicable more specifically to pressurised water nuclear reactors. This resolution was approved by the Minister for Ecological and Solidarity-based Transition in an Order of 14th June 2017. Apart from the above-mentioned general provisions, ASN resolutions set specific requirements for each facility, more particularly the water intake and discharge limits. Monitoring discharges from BNIs The monitoring of discharges from an installation is essentially the responsibility of the licensee. The requirements regulating discharges stipulate the minimum checks that the licensee is required to carry out. The monitoring focuses on the liquid and gaseous effluents (monitoring of the activity of discharges, characterisation of certain effluents prior to discharge, etc.) and on the environment around the facility (checks during discharge, samples of air, water, milk, grass, etc.). The results of this monitoring are recorded in registers transmitted to ASN every month. The BNI licensees also regularly transmit a certain number of discharge samples to an independent laboratory for additional analysis. The results of these “cross-checks” are sent to ASN. This programme of cross-checks defined by ASN is a way of ensuring that the accuracy of the laboratory measurements is maintained over time. Finally, through dedicated inspections, ASN ensures that the licensees comply with the regulatory provisions that apply to them regarding control of discharges. These generally unannounced inspections are run with the support of specialised, independent laboratories mandated by ASN. Effluent and environmental samples are taken for radiological and chemical analyses. Since 2000, ASN has carried out ten to twenty inspections - with sampling- every year. 2016-2021 Micro-pollutants Plan The 2016-2021 Micro-pollutant Plan 4 designed to preserve the quality of water and biodiversity, presented by the Minister for Ecology in September 2016, aims to protect surface waters, groundwaters, biota, sediments and waters intended for human consumption from all molecules liable to pollute the water resources, more particularly those previously identified during campaigns to Search for Hazardous Substances in Water (RSDE). This plan aims to meet the good water quality objectives set by the framework directive on water and contributes to those of the framework strategy directive for the marine environment, by limiting the input of pollutants into the marine environment from water courses. For NPPs, the RSDE campaigns reached the conclusion that copper and zinc discharges in particular needed to be 4 . A micro-pollutant can be defined as being an undesirable substance that can be detected in the environment in very small concentrations (microgram per litre or even nanogram per litre). Its presence is due, at least in part, to human activity (Industrial processes, agricultural practices or day to day activities) and it may, at these very small concentrations, create negative effects on living organisms owing to its toxicity, its persistence and its bioaccumulation. monitored. Under the Micro-pollutants Plan, the ASN actions initiated in 2017 comprise three parts: ཛྷ ཛྷ monitor the effective implementation of the action plan proposed by EDF to reduce discharges of copper and zinc (gradual replacement of the brass condenser tubes with stainless steel or titanium tubes); ཛྷ ཛྷ monitor the discharge trends for these substances; ཛྷ ཛྷ if necessary revise the individual requirements applicable to NPPs, setting emission limits for these molecules. Accounting of BNI discharges The rules for accounting of discharges, both radioactive and chemical, are set in the general regulations by ASN resolution 2013-DC-0360 of 16th July 2016 relative to control of the detrimental effects and the impact of Basic Nuclear Installations on health and the environment, amended by the ASN resolution 2016-DC-0569 of 29th September 2016. These rules were set so as to avoid any under-estimation of the discharge values notified by the licensees. For discharges of radioactive substances, accounting is not based on overall measurements, but on an analysis per radionuclide, introducing the notion of a “reference spectrum”, listing the radionuclides specific to the type of discharge in question. The principles underlying the accounting rules are as follows: ཛྷ ཛྷ radionuclides for which the measured activity exceeds the decision threshold for the measurement technique are all counted; ཛྷ ཛྷ the radionuclides of the “reference spectrum” for which the measured activity is below the decision threshold (see box page 145) are considered to be at the decision threshold level. For discharges of chemical substances with an emission limit value set by an ASN prescription, when the concentration values measured are below the quantification limit, the licensee is required by convention to declare a value equal to half the quantification limit concerned. Monitoring discharges in the medical sector Pursuant to ASN resolution 2008-DC-0095 of 29th January 2008, radioactivity measurements are taken on the effluents coming from the places that produce them. In hospitals that have a nuclear medicine department, these measurements chiefly concern iodine-131 and technetium-99m. In view of the difficulties encountered in putting in place the permits to discharge radionuclides into the public sewage networks, as provided for by the Public Health Code, ASN has created a working group involving administrations, “producers” (nuclear physicians, researchers) and sanitation professionals. The report from this working group formulating recommendations to improve the efficiency of the regulations was presented in October 2016 to the Advisory Committee for Radiation Protection, for industrial and research applications of ionising radiation and the environment. ASN consulted the stakeholders on this subject in 2017 and will publish this report in 2018, along with its recommendations. In the small-scale industrial nuclear sector, few plants discharge effluents apart from cyclotrons (see chapter 10). The discharge permits stipulate requirements for the discharges