The organization of French nuclear safety is subject to a major reform in 2024 which provides for the removal of one of its pillars.
Nuclear energy could experience a revival in France in the coming years. During COP28 which took place in Dubai from November to December 2023, it was one of the main topics and in France, the construction of new EPRs (EPR II) as well as small modular reactors (known as SMRs) is in progress. project.
It is in this context that just before the holidays, on December 20, 2023, the former Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher submitted a bill on a profound change in the organization of nuclear security in France. His project aims to reform the two French nuclear security authorities and would, in reality, remove one of them. If it is passed, the reform would be applied on January 1, 2025.
For the moment, nuclear safety is ensured by the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) and the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN). The role of the ASN is to control all nuclear activities in France, from “technical and material” aspects to “organizational and human aspects” according to its terms. While the IRSN is an institute of “research and expertise on nuclear and radiological risks”, as indicated in its website. Its work, independent, is public and consulted by the ASN in order to help it in its decisions.
The proposed reform aims to bring together these two organizations in order to found the Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority (ASNR). According to the bill, this new body would be based on “very high level state skills, a tight-knit college to make the most important decisions, a general direction to manage the work of the services, permanent groups of experts to inform decisions independently, a process of public consultation before decisions on important issues.
However, there is no consensus on this reform. At the end of 2023, 200 IRNS employees marched in the streets of Paris to express their reservations about this project. The unions had previously warned of a “drop in the level of protection of the population”. In fact, they warned of a reform that would disrupt or even disorganize the work of the organization in the midst of a nuclear relaunch and reduce the transparency of opinions as well as their independence. Enough to “degrade the quality of the assessment of nuclear and radiological risks” according to them.
On January 17, 2024, during a hearing in the Senate, the president of the ASN, Bernard Doroszczuk, for his part spoke in favor of this project. According to him, the workload that will affect nuclear security requires, on the contrary, such a reorganization. In West France, he assures that the primary goal is to “gain efficiency, eliminate duplication”. A speech which can also be interpreted as a desire to save money.