ASN Report 2017

252 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 OCCITANIE factors. ASN remains particularly attentive to compliance with the fuel removal deadline stipulated in Decree 2016-739 of 2nd June 2016 relative to the decommissioning of the facility. Alongside this, the licensee is continuing the removal of large components (pumps, heat exchangers) taken from the reactor pressure vessel and various very low-level waste materials. ASN carried out a reactive inspection further to a significant event reported by the licensee concerning the incorrect loading of an on-site transport container. This inspection highlighted the licensee’s appropriate management of the event. With regard to the Diadem facility dedicated to the storage of waste from the decommissioning of the Phénix NPP, the civil engineering operations are practically finished; lining of the vault compartments and installation of the racks are in progress, as is the finishing work. The inspection conducted in 2017 was devoted to reviewing the manufacturing and assembly files of certain equipment items and processing nonconformities. In the light of the observed elements the inspection results were satisfactory. Centraco plant ASN conducted 4 inspections on the Centraco facility in 2017 and considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection is satisfactory on the whole. ASN considers that the significant events reported by the licensee are dealt with competently. Following the same trend as in 2016, the solid and liquid waste incineration unit functioned slightly below the maximum possible rate. Similarly, the fusion unit functioned under suitably safe conditions without yet reaching its maximum processing capacity. Complementary studies concerning the aircraft crash, lightning and earthquake risk, submitted by the licensee in accordance with ASN’s requirements issued further to the facility’s periodic safety review of 2011, are currently being examined . Gammatec ioniser ASN conducted an inspection on the Gammatec irradiator and considers that the level of nuclear safety and radiation protection remain satisfactory in a situation where the treatment capacity of the facility is increasing and the commissioning authorisation for the experimental laboratory has been issued. Progress is still required however in the regulatory watch and the monitoring of the safety baseline requirements applicable to the facility. Écrin facility ASN has extended by one year the examination time for the facility commissioning application through ASN Chairman’s resolution CODEP-DRC-2017-019002 of 30th August 2017, in order to examine the additional elements demanded of the licensee, taking the regulatory term of the examination to 7th September 2018. This commissioning authorisation is a prerequisite for the performance of development work, and more specifically the application of a bituminous cover intended to limit the environmental impact of the facility. 1.2 Radiation protection in the medical field External radiotherapy and brachytherapy During 2017, ASN conducted 7 inspections in the Occitanie region, of which 2 were devoted to the commissioning of a new facility. One of these inspections, carried out before treating the first patients, concerned the commissioning of a Gammaknife ICON device at the Toulouse University Hospital. This device, the only one of its type in the Occitanie region, allows very precise treatment of intracranial lesions thanks to high-activity radioactive sources. Four inspections were also carried out in brachytherapy departments. In 2017, ASN oversight focused in particular on risk management and the implementation of new techniques in radiotherapy, including hypofractionated treatments. ASN considers that the treatment quality and safety management systems of the inspected radiotherapy and brachytherapy centres are on the whole appropriate. Improvements are nevertheless expected in some departments in which internal communication and the quality objectives are not sufficiently promoted by senior management. ASN remains attentive to seeing that these departments implement a continuous improvement loop driven by management reviews, audits and patient satisfaction surveys. ASN observes moreover that the prospective risk analysis procedure, which should lead to the setting up of appropriate barriers to prevent adverse patient radiation protection events, is not carried out in sufficient depth or is not always updated prior to the installation of a new device or technique. The centres must thus ensure that they give a formal structure to the procedure in accordance with the November 2014 opinion of the Advisory Committee for Radiation Protection in Medical and Forensic Applications of Ionising Radiation. All the radiotherapy departments have an organisation that enables adverse events to be detected, recorded and dealt with. ASN nevertheless notes that some departments have not reported any significant events for several years. Further progress must also be made with event analyses, so that they do not stop at the immediate causes but go on to examine the root causes, including the organisational and human factors. Lastly, the monitoring of corrective actions applied and the assessment of their effectiveness can be improved. With respect to the compliance notice served on the radiotherapy department of Rodez in 2016, ASN conducted a further follow-up inspection of this department in 2017. ASN has observed that the necessary recruitment and investment measures have been taken and that the corrective actions relative to quality management and the organisation of the medical physics unit are satisfactory. Fluoroscopy-guided interventional practices ASN inspected 15 centres practising fluoroscopy-guided interventional procedures in the Occitanie region in 2017. These inspections were carried out as much in the operating