ASN Report 2020

A BNI is an installation which, due to its nature or the quantity or activity of the radioactive substances it contains, is subject to a specific regulatory system as defined by the Environment Code (Title IX of Book V). These installations must be authorised by decree issued following a public inquiry and an ASN opinion. Their design, construction, operation and decommissioning are all regulated. The following are BNIs: 1. nuclear reactors; 2. large installations for the preparation, enrichment, fabrication, treatment or storage of nuclear fuels or the treatment, storage or disposal of radioactive waste; 3. large installations containing radioactive or fissile substances; 4. large particle accelerators; 5. deep geological repositories for radioactive waste. With the exception of nuclear reactors and the possible future deep geological repositories for radioactive waste, which are all BNIs, Section 1 entitled “Nomenclature of Basic Nuclear Installations” of Chapter III of Title IX of Book V of the Environment Code sets the threshold for entry into the BNI System for each category. 1. Administrative region headed by a Prefect. For technical or legal reasons, the concept of a BNI can cover a number of different physical situations: for example in a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), each reactor may be considered as a separate BNI, or a given BNI might in fact comprise two reactors. Similarly, a fuel cycle plant or a French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) centre can comprise several BNIs. These different configurations do not alter the regulatory conditions in any way. The following are subject to the BNI System: ∙ facilities under construction, provided that they are the subject of a Creation Authorisation Decree; ∙ facilities in operation; ∙ facilities shut down or undergoing decommissioning, until they are delicensed by ASN. As at 31 December 2020, there were 124 BNIs (legal entities). The notified BNIs are those which existed prior to the publication of Decree 63-1228 of 11 December 1963 concerning nuclear facilities and for which neither said Decree nor the Environment Code required authorisation but simply notification on the basis of the acquired rights (see Articles L.593-35 and L. 593-36 of the Environment Code). The missing BNI numbers correspond to facilities that figured in previous issues of the list, but which no longer constitute BNIs further to their delicensing (see chapter 13) or their licensing as new BNIs. To regulate all civil nuclear activities and installations in France, the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) has set up a regional organization comprising 11 regional divisions based in Bordeaux, Caen, Châlons‑en-Champagne, Dijon, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Orléans, Paris and Strasbourg. The Caen and Orléans divisions are responsible for Basic Nuclear Installation (BNI) regulation in the Bretagne (Brittany) and Île‑de-France regions respectively. The Paris division oversees the overseas regions and the département (1) of Mayotte, while the Marseille division oversees radiation protection and radioactive substance transport in the Corse collectivity. ASN Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2020 375