ASN Report 2017

196 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Chapter 07  - International relations Germany 15th-16th June 2017: discussions concerning topical aspects related to border NPPs: Fessenheim and Cattenom for France and Neckarwestheim and Philippsburg for Germany. Belgium 31st May 2017: safety of nuclear facilities and transports, discussions on the monitoring of installations such as the Institut national des radioéléments in Belgium or CIS bio international in France. China 4th April 2017: renewal in 2014 of the overall nuclear safety and radiation protection cooperation agreement, expanding the scope of this agreement to radioactive waste management and to fuel cycle facilities. The specific cooperation agreement on the EPR was also extended by five years. Discussions on progress in the construction of the EPR in the two countries and on the first start-up tests of the Taishan EPR, as well as monitoring of equipment manufacturing. A list of actions in fields of interest to the two safety regulators was drawn up. ASN is head of a three-year European assistance project, which started in February 2017 with the aim of reinforcing the development of the Chinese authority, the NNSA (National Nuclear Safety Administration) and its technical support organisation, the NSC (Nuclear Safety Center) on the following topics: management of radioactive waste, decommissioning, preparedness for emergency situations, radioactive material transports, fuel reprocessing, seismic evaluation and development of nuclear safety R&D skills. Spain 28th September 2017: discussions on topical nuclear safety and radiation protection subjects in our two countries, on progress in previously defined cooperation measures and updating of the roadmap for this cooperation between the two authorities for the next two years. This future cooperation will more particularly cover: ཛྷ ཛྷ operating experience feedback from the licensing of a proton-therapy centre, notably with a forthcoming visit to Nice; ཛྷ ཛྷ the holding of cross-inspections to compare and discuss nuclear waste transport rules; ཛྷ ཛྷ continued discussions on intermediate level, long-lived waste management issues. United States 19th May 2017 : variety of topics (decommissioning, pressure equipment manufacturing anomalies). Russia 15th june 2017: recent organisational and regulatory changes and an inventory of nuclear facilities in the two countries. The latest cooperation measures were also reviewed and the upcoming actions were identified (observation of inspections, seminars, etc.). The day before the meeting, a workshop was held on the oversight and regulation of fuel cycle facilities, followed by a visit to the Elektrostal nuclear fuel fabrication plant. Finland 25th-26th September 2017: bilateral meeting between ASN and STUK (Säteilyturvakeskus) in Montrouge, followed by a visit to the Flamanville 3 construction site on 27th September 2017. Japan 14th-15th November 2017: latest regulatory topics in the two countries, discussions on the seismic resistance of facilities and equipment, fraud and irregularities in the manufacture of components and monitoring the safety of spent fuel reprocessing plants. This meeting was rounded off by a visit to the Areva plant at La Hague. Norway 9th may 2017 : discussions on the monitoring of research reactors, the radon risk, the management of emergency situations and radioactive waste management. United Kingdom 24th April 2017: meeting on LUDD (Laboratories, Plants, Waste and Decommissioning) and visit to Sellafield concerning waste management. Sweden 28th September: the Orleans division took part in an inspection carried out by the SSM (Sträl Säkerhets Myndigheten) in the Forsmark NPP, after a preparatory meeting the previous day in Stockholm. Switzerland 19th-20th December 2017: regular relations with the IFSN (Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate) on a variety of subjects such as the safety of nuclear facilities, radiation protection in the medical field, radon, preparedness for and management of emergency situations, transport, etc. 5.3 ASN bilateral assistance In 2017, at their request, ASN had contacts with several safety regulators in countries looking to find out about the steps involved in creating a nuclear safety regulatory and oversight infrastructure. ASN responds to these approaches by means of bilateral actions with the safety regulator of the country concerned, in addition to the instruments, both European (INSC) and international (IAEA’s RCF). The purpose of this cooperation is to enable the beneficiary countries to acquire the safety and transparency culture that is essential for a national system of nuclear safety and radiation protection oversight. Nuclear safety oversight must be based on national competence and