ASN Report 2017

245 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 Nouvelle-Aquitaine The Bordeaux division regulates nuclear safety, radiation protection and the transport of radioactive substances in the 12 départements of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. The 3 départements of the former Limousin region have been under the competence of the Bordeaux division since 1st July 2017, following the regional reform of ASN. I n 2017, ASN carried out 134 inspections in the Nouvelle- Aquitaine region, comprising 35 inspections in the area of nuclear safety in the Blayais and Civaux Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs), 5 inspections concerning the transport of radioactive substances and 94 inspections of small-scale nuclear activities. ASN also carried out 16 days of labour inspection at the Blayais NPP and 9 days at the Civaux NPP. During 2017, seven significant events rated level 1 on the INES scale were notified by the NPP licensees of Nouvelle- Aquitaine. In small-scale nuclear activities, 3 significant events rated level 1 on the INES scale were notified to ASN. Added to these events are significant events concerning radiotherapy patients, of which 16 were rated level 1 on the ASN-SFRO scale and 2 were rated level 2. The installations and activities to regulate comprise: ཛྷ ཛྷ BNIs: -- the Blayais NPP (4 reactors of 900 MWe); -- the Civaux NPP (2 reactors of 1,450 MWe); ཛྷ ཛྷ small-scale nuclear activities in the medical sector: -- 19 external-beam radiotherapy departments; -- 6 brachytherapy departments; -- 22 nuclear medicine departments; -- 93 centres performing fluoroscopy-guided interventional procedures; -- 89 computed tomography scanners; -- some 5,700 medical and dental radiology devices; ཛྷ ཛྷ small-scale nuclear activities in the veterinary, industrial and research sectors: -- 592 industrial and research establishments, including 41 companies exercising an industrial radiography activity, 1 Cyclotron particle accelerator, 85 laboratories situated mainly in the universities of the region, 20 companies using gamma ray densitometers and 337 users of devices for detecting lead in paint; -- about 450 veterinary surgeries or clinics practising diagnostic radiology; ཛྷ ཛྷ ASN-approved laboratories and organisations: -- 4 organisations approved for radiation protection technical controls -- 1 organisation approved for measuring radon; -- 4 laboratories approved for taking environmental radioactivity measurements. 1. Assessment by domain 1.1 The nuclear installations Blayais nuclear power plant ASN considers that the performance of the Blayais NPP with regard to nuclear safety, environmental protection and radiation protection is, on the whole, in line with ASN’s general assessment of EDF plant performance. With regard to safety, ASN has noted that the four reactor outages for maintenance and refuelling proceeded smoothly on the whole. ASN nevertheless observes that the site has persistent difficulties in planning, preparing and performing the periodic tests required by the general operating rules to guarantee correct operation of the equipment. The quality of the operational documentation is still a weak point for the smooth running of these tests, and more generally for the operational control and maintenance activities. With regard to radiation protection, ASN observes that the site continues to make progress in the optimisation of the radiation doses received by workers and in the control of the radiological cleanliness of worksites during reactor outages, thanks in particular to satisfactory integration of the lessons learned from preceding reactor outages. ASN notes positively the measures taken by the site to implement the Everest