Basic Nuclear Installation regulations

1. www.irsn.org Basic Nuclear Installation regulations Licensing procedures D. RIVE Regional Seminar on installation of a new RR-EBP 14-18 Aug 2006, Hanoi, Vietnam

2. CONTENTS • Regulation context • Licensing procedures • Technical rules

3. CONTENTS • Regulation context • Licensing procedures • Technical rules

4. BNI regulations In addition to the general regulations applied, such as those pertaining to: • Labour law, • Radiation protection, • Environmental protection, BNI are subject to two particular types of regulations: • Licensing procedures, • Technical rules. The unlicensed operation of nuclear installation is prohibited by French law and the relevant regulations.

5. BNI regulations BNIs are currently regulated by Decree 63-1228 of 11 December 1963, as modified. This Decree notably provides for an authorisation Decree procedure followed by a series of licences issued at key points in the plant’s lifetime: • Fuel loading or pre-commissioning stages, • Commissioning, • Final shutdown, • dismantling. It also enables to request at any time the operator to conduct a periodic safety review of an installation.

6. BNI regulations BNIs must also comply with the requirements of Decree 95-540 of 4 May 1995, as modified, on water. This Decree, concerning the general protection of individuals against the dangers arising from ionising radiation, sets the licensing procedure for liquid and gaseous effluent release and water intake for these installations. Application of these various procedures starts with sitting and plant design and ends with ultimate dismantling.

7. CONTENTS • Regulation context • Licensing procedures • Technical rules

8. Licensing procedures Key points in the plant’s lifetime: • Site selection, • Safety options, • Plant authorisation decrees, • Operating licences, • Final shutdown and dismantling licenses. In addition to those points, the operation of most nuclear installations also involves liquid and gaseous effluent release and water intake licences.

9. 1. Site selection Well before applying for an authorisation Decree, the operator provides information to the Authority on the site or sites selected for the BNI construction. Apart from socio-economic aspects, the analyse deals with the safety-related characteristics of the site: • Seismicity, • Hydrogeology, • Industrial environment, • Cold water sources, • etc.

10. 2. Safety options When an operator intends to build a new type of BNI, it is expected to present the relevant safety objectives and the main characteristics as early as possible, well before submitting its authorisation application. Nuclear safety authority asks the competent Advisory Committee to examine the proposals submitted, on the basis of an analysis performed by the IRSN, and then informs the operator of the issues which must be included in its authorisation Decree application. This preparatory procedure in no way exempts the applicant from the subsequent regulatory examinations but simply facilitates them. This stage is done at the pre-conceptual design stage.

11. 3. Plant authorisation Decrees Applications for BNI authorisation Decrees are sent to the Minister for Environment and the Minister for Industry, who forward them to other ministers concerned (Interior, Health, Agriculture, Town Planning, Transport, Labour, etc.). Each application file comprises a Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR). Processing of the application includes: • a public inquiry, • a technical assessment. This stage is done at the conceptual design stage. After plant authorisation Decrees, detailed design and provisioning activities could be launch.

12. 3. Plant authorisation Decrees Consultation of the public and the local authorities: The public inquiry is opened by the prefect of the department where the installation is to built. The documents submitted to the inquiry must notably specify: • The purpose of the inquiry, • The nature and basic characteristics of the installation, • A hazard analysis, • An environmental impact assessment. The purpose of the inquiry is to inform the public and collect opinions, suggestions and counter-proposals.

13. 3. Plant authorisation Decrees Consultation of the public and the local authorities: In accordance with general provisions in this respect, the public inquiry shall proceed for a minimum period of one month and a maximum period of two months. A descriptive file and an inquiry register are made available in all communes completely or partially within a 5 km radius around the planned installation. So any interested person, whatever his nationality or place of residence, is invited to express his opinion. When the inquiry is over, report and conclusions are sent to the ministers in charge of nuclear safety.

14. 3. Plant authorisation Decrees Consultation of technical organisations: The PSAR is submitted for examination to the competent Advisory Committee, on the basis of an analysis performed by the IRSN. The length of the safety review for the planned installation varies widely according to the installation concerned. For large installations, it varies approximately between six months and two years, depending on the degree of innovation of the project with respect to projects already examined.

15. 3. Plant authorisation Decrees Consultation of technical organisations: The ASN eventually prepares a draft authorisation Decree on the basis of: • the recommendations of the Advisory Committee, • the results of the public inquiry, • possibly the remarks of other ministers. This draft Decree is then sent to the Interministerial Commission for Basic Nuclear Installations.

16. 3. Plant authorisation Decrees Authorisation Decree: (1/3) The authorisation Decree defines: • the perimeter and the characteristics of the installation, • the specific requirements which must be met by the operator. It also specifies the particular justifications the operator will have to present prior to: • the various pre-commissioning stages, • commissioning, • the final shutdown and dismantling of its installation.

17. 3. Plant authorisation Decrees Authorisation Decree: (2/3) The authorisation Decree requires the operator to submit to ASN, at least six months before initial loading: • a provisional safety report, • the general operating rules, • an onsite emergency plan. To request official notification of operating state (end of commissioning), the operator send ASN a Final Safety Report and the updated general operating rules and onsite emergency plan.

18. 3. Plant authorisation Decrees Authorisation Decree: (3/3) The authorisation Decree for the installation sets the time within which it is to be commissioned. If the installation is not commissioned within the specified time or if it is not operated for a consecutive period of two years, a further authorisation, taking the same form, will be required.

19. 4. Operating licences Power reactor commissioning The first core load can only be delivered to the fresh fuel storage building after authorisation granted after examination of: • the storage provisions made by the operator, as presented at least three months before hand, • the conclusions of an inspection carried out shortly before the date set for delivery of the fuel elements.

20. 4. Operating licences Power reactor commissioning For PWRs, at least four successive licences are required in the start-up stage: • a fuel loading licence, authorising fissile fuel elements to be installed in the reactor vessel, enabling fuelled testing to start (pre-critical cold tests) • a licence for pre-critical hot testing, prior to first criticality, • a licence for first criticality and power build-up to 90% of nominal power, • a licence for power build-up to 100% of nominal power.

21. 4. Operating licences Power reactor commissioning After the initial start-up and within a time limit stipulated in the authorisation decree, the operator request the issue of a commissioning licence. His request is substantiated by: • a final safety analysis report, • final general operating rules, • a revised version of the onsite emergency plan. These documents must reflect the experience acquired during the operating period since the initial start-up. On this basis, Ministers (Industry and Environment) notify the official operating state.

22. 4. Operating licences Commissioning of installations other than power reactors The pre-commissioning authorisation is accompanied by notification of technical requirements. It is granted after examination of: • the provisional safety analysis report, • the general operating rules, • the onsite emergency plan. Furthermore, before an installation is definitely commissioned, which must take place within a time stipulated in the authorisation decree, the operator must submit a FSAR to the ministers for Environment and for Industry.

23. 4. Operating licences Installation modifications The operator notifies ASN of any modification to the installation demanding updating of the Safety Report, the general operating rules or the onsite emergency plan. A further authorisation must be obtained when a basic nuclear installation requires modifications likely to lead to non-compliance with the authorization Decree. In the case of modifications made to an existing or planned installation which has already undergone a public inquiry, if these modifications are not substantial and do not increase the risks of the installation, a public inquiry is not necessary.

24. 4. Operating licences Installation modifications: Example of CABRI reactor Safety Option Public inquiry PSAR Technical assessment

25. 4. Operating licences Installation modifications: Example of CABRI reactor The Decree 2006-320 of 20 March 2006 authorize the CEA to modify the BNI n°24 named CABRI

26. 4. Operating licences Decree 2006-320 20 March 2006 Authorisation decree Do – 6 month PrSAR, GOR, EP Do – 2 month Results of tests Do 1st criticality authorisation Do + y FSAR, GOR, EP < 20 March 2016 Official notification 20 March 2016 Dead line

27. 5. Final shutdown and dismantling licenses When an operator decides to close down its installation, it must inform the ASN by sending him: • a document justifying the selected configuration in which the installation will be left after final shutdown, and indicating the various stages of subsequent dismantling, • a safety analysis report covering the final shutdown procedures and indicating subsequent plant safety provisions, • the general surveillance and servicing rules to ensure that a satisfactory level of safety is maintained, • an updated on site emergency plan for the installation concerned. The operator must also submit an environmental impact analysis pertaining to the proposed provisions.

28. 5. Final shutdown and dismantling licenses The implementation of these various provisions is subject to their approval by decree. In some cases, operations such as the unloading and removal of nuclear material, the disposal of fluids, or decontamination and clean-up operations can be performed under the provisions of the authorisation decree for the plant considered. As soon as the installation is affected by the dismantling operations in such a way that they alter its nature, it is considered to be a new BNI and consequently a new authorisation decree is required, involving the procedure previously described, including a public inquiry. In most cases, such plants become storage facilities for their own internal equipment.

29. Licensing procedures Liquid and gaseous effluent release and water intake licences The normal operation of nuclear plants produces radioactive effluents, for which release to the environment is subject to stringent conditions devised for the protection of staff, the public and the environment. It also involves intake of water from the site’s immediate environment and release of non-radioactive liquid and gaseous effluents. The same licence can cover both release and intake for a given BNI.

30. Licensing procedures Liquid and gaseous effluent release and water intake licences Interministerial authorisation order stipulates: • the intake and release limits with which the operator must comply, • the approved methods of analysis, measurement and monitoring and of surveillance of environmental effects, • the conditions under which the operator shall report concerning the water intakes and releases it has performed together with environmental impact surveillance results, • the means to be used for information of the public.

31. Licensing procedures Periodic safety review (PSR): regulatory aspects French regulations enable the ASN to request at any time the operator to conduct a periodic safety review of an installation. In practice, PSRs are requested every ten years to improve the safety level of the existing plants.

32. Licensing procedures Periodic safety review (PSR): technical objectives Two technical objectives: • To verify the conformity of the units to the applicable safety requirements, • To improve their safety level, considering: • Safety requirements of the latest series in operation or of project reactors, • New standards, new regulations, …

33. Licensing procedures • French PSR approach considers following phases First phase Compiling the applicable set of safety requirements (« safety referential ») and defining the PSR program and safety objectives Second phase Performing conformity check of the units and safety studies (conformity and reassessment) Third phase Implementing the defined hardware modifications and updating reference documents

34. OPERATING LICENCES DISMANTLING DECREE Licensing procedures FINAL OPERATION DESIGN CONSTRUCTION OPERATING DISMANTLING FINAL SHUTDOWN SOR PSAR PrSAR FSAR FSAR GOR GOR GSSR EP EP EP Authorisation DECREE SOR: Safety Option Report PSAR: Preliminary Safety Analysis Report GOR: General Operating Rules PrSAR: Provisional Safety Analysis Report EP: Emergency Plan FSAR: Final Safety Analysis Report

35. CONTENTS • Regulation context • Licensing procedures • Technical rules

36. Technical rules Technical nuclear safety rules and practices are set out in a series of texts, classified according to relative specificity. • General technical regulations, • Basic safety rules, • French nuclear industry codes and standards. The first texts, of regulatory nature, are very general and do not deal with technical details. The last texts, on the other hand, concern closely analysed specific topics. Their legal context is more flexible.

37. Technical rules General technical regulations General technical regulations, based on decree of 11 December 1963, currently cover four major subjects: • Pressure vessels, • Quality organisation, • Water intake and effluent release, • External hazards and detrimental effects related to BNI operation.

38. Technical rules Basic safety rules These rules constitute recommendations defining the safety aims to be achieved and describing accepted practice ASN deems compatible with these aims. They are not, strictly speaking, regulatory documents. An operator may decide not to adopt the provisions laid down in basic safety rule, providing it can demonstrate that the safety aims underlying the rule can be achieved by alternative means, which it has to propose. There are currently about forty basic safety rules.

39. Technical rules French nuclear industry codes and standards (1/2) In the industrial field, current industrial rules and practices are codified in standards or in series of industrial codes. These codes and standards are a concrete transposition of the requirements of the general technical regulations, while reflecting best industrial practices, thereby facilitating contractual relations between customers and suppliers.

40. Technical rules French nuclear industry codes and standards (2/2) In the particular field of nuclear safety, the French association (AFCEN) drafts industrial codes for the design, manufacture and commissioning of: • Electrical equipment (RCC-E), • Civil engineering work (RCC-G), • Mechanical equipment (RCC-M). A code of “mechanical equipment in-service surveillance rules” (RSE-M) was drafted to deal with operation of this equipment. Drafting these documents is the responsibility of industry and not of ASN. ASN nonetheless examines them to ensure that they are in conformity with the general technical regulations.

41. Conclusion

42. Conclusion Application of these various procedures starts with sitting and plant design and ends with ultimate dismantling. It must also be pointed out that radiation protection and nuclear safety regulations are increasingly derived from rules adopted internationally, whether community regulations or directives or international conventions. Finally, the legal framework for nuclear activities also originates from a variety of international recommendations and standards. These include: • The recommendations of the ICRP, • The standards of the IAEA, • The work of the WENRA.

43. Thank you for your attention