ASN Report 2017

177 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Chapter 06  - Informing the public and other audiences The Commission for Access to Administrative Documents (CADA) In the event of refusal by a licensee to communicate information, the applicant can refer the matter to the Committee for Access to Administrative Documents (CADA), an independent administrative Authority, which gives an opinion on whether the refusal is justified or not. Should the interested parties not follow the opinion of the CADA, the dispute could be taken before the administrative jurisdiction which would rule on whether or not the information in question can be communicated. ASN is heavily committed to the application of this right to information and regularly encourages the public to exercise it. 2.2 Information given to populations living in the vicinity of basic nuclear installations The TECV Act has instituted an obligation to regularly inform the populations living in the vicinity of a BNI of the nature of the accident risks associated with that installation, the envisaged consequences of such accidents, the planned safety measures and the action to take in the event of an accident. This information is provided at the expense of the licensee. 2.3 Public consultation about projected resolutions Article 7 of the Environment Charter embodies the right of participation of any citizen in the framing of public decisions having an impact on the environment (see chapter 3). This provision is applicable to a large proportion of the decisions taken by ASN or in which it participates by formulating opinions (draft decrees and orders issued by the Government in particular). 2.3.1 Public consultation on draft ASN regulations Article L. 123-19 of the Environment Code provides for a procedure of consultation of the public via the Internet on draft regulatory texts having an impact on the environment. ASN has decided to apply this widely. Consequently, all draft ASN regulations concerning BNIs, including those relating to nuclear pressure equipment, are considered as having an impact on the environment and are therefore subject to public participation. The same approach is applied for the ASN regulations relative to the transport of radioactive substances that ASN adopts. ASN’s regulations relating to radiation protection are also submitted to public participation if they concern activities involving significant releases into the environment, producing a significant quantity of waste, causing significant nuisance for the neighbourhood or representing a significant hazard for the nearby residents and the surrounding environments in the event of an accident. Lastly, although they are not of a statutory nature, ASN applies this same procedure to certain guides. An indicative list of the scheduled consultations on draft ASN regulations and guides having an impact on the environment is updated every three months on www.asn.fr . The public participation procedure consists in posting the draft ASN regulation on the website for at least 21 days in order to give people time to make their comments. A synthesis of the remarks made, indicating those taken into account and a document setting out the reasons for the regulation are published on www.asn.fr at the latest on the date of publication of the regulation. During 2017, three consultations concerned draft ASN regulations and three concerned draft guides. 2.3.2 Public consultation about draft ASN licensing decisions The ASN licensing decisions on nuclear safety and radiation protection can form the subject of several public consultation procedures which are presented below. The public inquiry In application of the Environment Code, the BNI creation authorisation and decommissioning procedures form the subject of a public inquiry. Since 1st June 2012, in an ongoing experiment, the files of projects that are subject to a public inquiry and which could affect the environment are available on line. The BNIs, whether for their creation or their decommissioning, are included in this experiment. Disclosure of drafts on www.asn.fr The ASN licensing decisions which are not subject to public inquiry and which could have a significant effect on the environment are disclosed for consultation on the Internet. These are mainly individual requirements applicable to BNIs, the authorisation to commission a BNI or the delicensing of a decommissioned BNI, as well as authorisations for small- scale nuclear activities that could produce effluents or waste. FOCUS Public inquiry on the periodic safety reviews A public inquiry is planned at the periodic safety review of nuclear reactors which have been in operation for more than 35 years. This provision will start to apply in the coming months with the fourth periodic safety reviews of the 900 MWe reactors operated by EDF. In view of the stakes these reviews represent, of the importance of ensuring a good level of public participation in this process, and of the complexity of the process (with a “generic” phase concerning all the reactors and phases specific to each reactor), the HCTISN (French High Committee for Transparency and Information on Nuclear Security) has set up, further to an ASN proposal, a working group tasked with proposing practical methods of public participation in these various phases.

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