ASN Report 2017

221 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Chapter 08  - Regional overview of nuclear safety and radiation protection CENTRE-VAL DE LOIRE Dampierre-en-Burly nuclear power plant ASN considers that the nuclear safety performance of the Dampierre-en-Burly NPP is on the whole in line with the general assessment of the EDF plants. It considers that the radiation protection and environmental protection performance is below the national average. The nuclear safety performance is considered satisfactory on the whole. The strong involvement of the independent safety organisation in the follow-up to events is to be maintained. ASN does however note that deviations in maintenance activity scheduling, procurement deficiencies or nonconformities in spare parts led to several significant events and caused reactor outage extensions in 2017. ASN also notes that the site must regain its grip of the management of fire, explosion and lightning risks to bring the facilities into compliance with the associated regulations. With regard to radiation protection, the action plan deployed by the site in 2017 has not yet demonstrated its effectiveness. Recurrent deviations are still observed and the site has attained few of its set targets. Strong measures tailored to situations in the field are expected in 2018. As regards environmental protection, the site’s performance is yet again found to be somewhat below ASN’s assessment of the preceding years. Recurrent events were notified in 2017. They are related essentially to organisational deficiencies and reflect the lack of effectiveness of the corrective measures taken by the site since 2016. Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux site ASN considers that the performance of the Saint-Laurent-des- Eaux NPP is on the whole in line with the general assessment of EDF in the areas of the environment and radiation protection, but its safety performance is down compared with preceding years. With regard to nuclear safety, ASN observes that several deviations in operation of the installations occurred during the reactor restarting periods. The action plan implemented by NPP management has not yet produced any significant improvement in the management of the periodic tests – already a weak spot in 2016 – which remain the cause of several significant event notifications. The in-depth analyses of these events reveal deficiencies in the technical analyses, quality assurance and training. Furthermore, the NPP’s organisation for detecting deviations and justifying their remediation time frames, in accordance with the applicable regulations, is not sufficiently robust and must be improved. ASN nevertheless notes the good overall upkeep of the worksites and the efforts to update the maintenance documentation with respect to the baseline requirements. ASN considers that the radioprotection organisation of the Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux NPP is satisfactory. The site’s culture in this area meets expectations. The radiation protection rules are generally well integrated in the preparation and performance of work in controlled areas, even if a few deviations, including 2 significant events, were detected. The performance of Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux with regard to the environment seems satisfactory on the whole. ASN underlines the commitment of the organisation and the robustness of the measures taken to manage activities involving high environmental risks. On the other hand, the long-term integration of the environmental requirements must still be improved. ASN considers that the level of safety of the old Saint-Laurent- des-Eaux NPP is satisfactory for the short term. In 2016, EDF announced a change in the decommissioning strategy for its gas-cooled reactors, and in 2017 it submitted the elements requested by ASN which will be examined in 2018 (see chapter 15). ASN will also examine the periodic safety review for the Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux reactors A1 and A2 in 2018, for which the conclusions report was received at the end of 2017. The liquid and solid waste removal operations continued as part of the decommissioning of the reactors of Saint- Laurent-des-Eaux A. An action plan specifically targeting the legacy waste of the installation was prepared and presented to ASN. In this context, EDF plans to create a new legacy waste characterisation area and is seeking an interim storage solution for “legacy waste with projected disposal route” and “legacy waste without disposal routes”. ASN will be vigilant regarding compliance with the proposed deadlines and the actions undertaken. The worksites involving an “alpha” contamination risk had been suspended since 2016 following the discovery of confirmed internal contamination of persons, which had been incurred on such worksites. These activities were resumed in June 2017. ASN has verified that all the corrective actions defined by EDF further to the discovery of the contamination have been correctly accomplished. An action plan focusing on work rigour has been initiated and presented to ASN. ASN will continue to implement the defined measures and corrective actions in 2018. Labour inspection in the nuclear power plants During 2017, as in the preceding years, the ASN labour inspectors conducted various worksite inspections on all the nuclear power plants of the Centre-Val de Loire region in the areas of health and safety at work, particularly during maintenance outages. Specific inspections were also carried out on the following themes: explosion risk, operation of ventilation, conformity of loading – unloading machines, etc. These inspections focused on the periodic verifications as well as the conformity of the facilities or work equipment with the applicable regulations. Worksite inspections were also carried out on the ultimate backup diesel generator set construction sites (post-Fukushima project) and on tertiary building worksites. Several workplace accidents have given rise to specific inspection operations to determine the exact causes and the corrective actions implemented by the licensees of the NPPs concerned.