ASN Report 2017

386 ASN report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2017 Chapter 13  - Nuclear fuel cycle installations After examination of the periodic safety review report for the UP3-A plant (BNI 116), ASN ordered Areva NC on 3rd May 2016 to make safety improvements. This safety review demonstrated the need for a significant improvement in the protection of the facility against the fire and lightning risks as well as an improvement of the radioactive materials on-site transport systems. ASN asked Areva NC to take account of experience feedback from the examination of the review file for the UP3-A (BNI 116) plant as part of the examination of the review orientation file for the UP2-800 (BNI 117) plant, in particular with regard to the completeness of the analyses provided in support of these files and in terms of methodology for identification of the Elements Important for Protection (EIP). The periodic review file for the UP2-800 plant was submitted by Areva NC at the beginning of January  2016 and is currently being examined. ASN will issue a position statement on the periodic safety review of the R1 facility at the beginning of 2018. The examination of certain technical subjects of this review should be completed in 2019. Areva NC management of the state of the evaporation concentration containers For the BNI 116 periodic safety review, ASN asked Areva in 2011 to examine the conformity and ageing of the fission products concentration evaporators in units T2 (BNI 116) and R2 (BNI 117). In 2014, Areva NC informed ASN that the corrosion of these items was on a scale greater than that considered in the design. During the course of 2015, Areva NC sent ASN the results of the in situ measurement campaigns. As the maintained integrity of these items has major safety implications, ASN in June 2016 specified the conditions to be met by Areva NC for continued operation of these evaporators. It is particularly attentive to the development of corrosion in this equipment and may demand shutdown of the facility in the event of excessive deterioration. In 2017, ASN carried out checks prior to each restart of this equipment following a maintenance outage. In November 2016, ASN issued an opinion on the safety options presented by Areva NC for new evaporators. In November 2017, ASN authorised the construction of the civil engineering structures for the new buildings which are to house the future evaporators. In addition, in 2011, following the perforation of the outer structure of an evaporator in BNI 117, the licensee sent ASN an authorisation application in 2016 for replacement and commissioning of a new evaporator, today envisaged for the 2018 time-frame. Radiation protection In 2017, as in previous years, ASN considers that worker radiation protection in the La Hague plant is on the whole satisfactory. The staff of outside contractors, in particular those working on the decommissioning of the UP2-400 plant, are the most exposed workers in the facility. 1.2.3 Ongoing and future plant modifications Authorisation applications for processing of new types of fuels The Creation Authorisation Decrees of 12th May 1981, updated in 2003 and in 2016, specify the operating domain of the plants for each type of fuel assembly. The applications for authorisation to process new types of fuels, covered by the operating domain defined in the modified Decrees of 12th May 1981, are the subject of ASN resolutions. In 2017, La Hague was authorised to receive fuels from test and research reactors, such as the “silicide” type fuels from the Siloé and Osiris reactors. Receipt of fuels from the OPAL reactors and of MOX fuel assemblies from the nuclear power plants with a plutonium and americium mass before irradiation of less than 8.78% was authorised at the beginning of 2018. Implementation of new storage capacity for waste packages The forecasts concerning the storage capacity for CSD-V (R7, T7 and E/EV/SE facilities) waste packages on the La Hague site demonstrated the need to double capacity by 2017. In order to anticipate saturation of the storage capacity, the construction of the first vitrified waste storage extension on the La Hague site (E/EV/LH) began in 2007 and was completed in 2013. This extension comprises two pits, referred to as “pits 30 and 40”. Initially, only pit 30 was equipped with its storage shafts. This pit was commissioned in two stages, in September 2013 and June 2015. DIAGRAM OF AN EVAPORATOR and details of the half-tubes of the heating circuit