A REGULATORY POINT OF VIEW ONCOMPLEX DISMANTLING ACTIVITIESJean-Luc LACHAUMEASN Commissioner

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Presentation of ASN

SOMMAIRE
CONTENTS
Presentation of dismantling activities
on the ORANO La Hague site

ASN’s concerns regarding La Hague
dismantling activities

Conclusion

PRESENTATION OF ASN

On behalf of the State,
ASN ensures the oversightof nuclear safety and radiation protectionin order to protect people and the environment.
It informs the public and contributes
to enlightened societal choices.

ASN decides and acts with rigour and discernment:
it aim is to exercise an oversight that is recognisedby citizens and regarded internationallyas a benchmark for good practice.
ASN is the equivalent of the Japanese NRARegulation and control of nuclear activities

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PRESENTATION OF ASN: THE COMMISSIONINDEPENDENT FROM THE GOVERMENTPRESENTATION OF ASN: WHAT WE REGULATE AND CONTROL

Nuclear reactors : 58 EdF nuclear reactors in service - 19 NPPs
 3 reactors in construction : EPR, RJH, ITER
 More than ten reactors in decommissioning

Fuel cycle facilities : fabrication, reprocessing,storage, disposal, ….
Other nuclear activities : Medical instruments (circa 50 000)
 Transport (circa 1 000 000/year)
 Industry sources (circa 45 000)

127 nuclearinstallations

French Nuclear Facilities

Fuel cycle(enrichment, fabrication, reprocessing)

Waste disposal sites
Research centers
Laboratories

58 + 1 PWR
300
MWe

900
MWe

1,300
MWe

1,450
MWe

1,600
MWe

Heavy
GasWater 1 RNRGraphite Gas
CooledConstruc.

Operation

Decom.

NPPs characteristic :Standardized fleet of 56 (+1) PWR
1 operator (EDF)~72% of the electricity production

6PRESENTATION OF DISMANTLING ACTIVITIES ON THE ORANO LA
HAGUE SITE
The French nuclear fuel cycle
 French Specificity: Reprocess the spent nuclear fuel in order to reduce the volume ofHigh level long lived radioactive waste and recycle Uranium. Most of the countries
intend to dispose directly the spent fuel.

PRESENTATION OF DISMANTLING ACTIVITIES ON THE ORANO LA
HAGUE SITE
About reprocessing at ORANO La Hague:
 96 % of spent fuel is reusable : Extraction of the Uranium (95 %) to build new nuclear
fuel, Plutonium (1 %) to build MOX fuel and 4 % « ultimate waste» in glass packages
stable for a very long term period and intended to be sent to a final disposal facility.

PRESENTATION OF DISMANTLING ACTIVITIES ON THE ORANO LA
HAGUE SITE
The reprocessing (or recycling) ORANO La Hague site

 A complex nuclear site:
First operations in 1966: Today the oldest facility is in a dismantling phase

ASN’S CONCERNS REGARDING DISMANTLING ACTIVITIES Former facility definitively shut down in 2004. Loss of knowledge of the operation, ageing The waste generated by the first reprocessing plant was stored without treatment orpackaging. Risks of leakage, fire…
 Decommissioning is therefore carried out concomitantly with the legacy Waste Retrieval
and Packaging operations. Complex activities in parallel The retrieval operations therefore require remotely operated pick-up means, conveyor
systems, sorting systems, sludge pumping and waste packaging systems. Difficulty toassess the safety

 The licensee must develop means and skills that involve complex engineering techniques(radiation protection, chemistry, mechanics, robotics, artificial intelligence, etc.). At present
about ten projects of this type are underway in the former facilities. Difficulty to ensure
safety on a long period – delays and changes of strategies
 Difficulty for ASN: How to challenge the licensee and its contractors?

 For ASN the objective is to have a complete dismantling as soon as possible and not leave
a burden to the future generations

ASN’S CONCERNS REGARDING DISMANTLING ACTIVITIESExample of the « Silo 130 » Pyrophorics (highly inflammable) radioactive waste (518 T) are stored, since 1981 in 2pits . Risks of fire and underground leaks
 A new facility with robots has been developed to remove the waste before storing themsafely
 It will last more than 10 years

ASN’S CONCERNS REGARDING DISMANTLING ACTIVITIES Based on the fact that complex projects face always some delays and some failures
damaging the safety, ASN is developping a new kind of control to encourage theoperator to better manage its projects and in the end succeeds in dismantling:The idea is to challenge very early the whole project of an operator: the planning, the cost and the success in the end.

The methodology comes from the financial and industrial world: need for ASN to learn

The operator has to be very open and transparent and to give access to sensitive information



ASN needs the support of financial skills

These controls take place at the operator’s headquarters

 Experimentations in 2020 and 2021: so far, successful

CONCLUSION

For a regulatory body, the success of dismantling complex facilities in a limited
period of time is a real challenge to ensure a good level of safety
The risk is to tolerate long term situations with a low level of safety and potentiallyharmful for the environment
There’s the necessity to be proactive and to challenge the operator
One key for success for a Regulatory body is also the capacity of « influence »We don’t want to leave a burden to the future generations

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