Along with their NEA peers, a number of IRSN experts will contribute actively to three projects to prepare for the decommissioning of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactors: one project to prepare the recovery and analysis of fuel debris (PreADES PreADES [http://www.oecd-nea.org/jointproj/preades.html]), another to examine the state of the damaged reactors (ARC-F) in more detail, and another to thermodynamically characterize the fuel debris and fission products (TCOFF).

IRSN intends to share its expertise internationally: by contributing to the synthesis of knowledge acquired from the Fukushima Daiichi accident, by contributing its expertise to the analysis of debris samples from the damaged reactors, by upgrading its thermodynamic databases (NUCLEA, MEPHISTA).

IRSN expects that its participation in these three projects will help to strengthen its expertise capacity on severe accidents: it will gain a better understanding of the limits of the various tools and methods it has developed through its studies and research, by applying them to the reality of an accident that has been thoroughly analyzed.

ETSON’s 2016 General Assembly was hosted by AMEC Foster Wheeler, the British TSO, in Manchester on June 9th and 10th. The General Assembly welcomed its 17th associated member with the admission of the Italian TSO ENEA following MTA-EK (Hungary) in 2015. Discussions with other European TSOs are taking place to further enlarge ETSON.

At the General Assembly, IRSN, a founding member of the network, and its counterparts approved the creation of a task force, aimed at establishing a strategy to meet the Network’s scientific and technical goal, thereby strengthening its future political influence with the EC and European nuclear safety authorities.

In 2015, ETSON members released two new technical safety assessment guides : one on safety fluid systems and the other on the results of a workshop dedicated to the assessments of earthquake/flood in light of the Fukushima accident.

Visit the ETSON website.

The European Commission (EC) has just announced the results of the first call for projects of the Horizon 2020 programme (the 8th Euratom Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development), for research and training activities in nuclear fission and radiation protection. IRSN participates in 11 projects out of the 14 selected in the topics relevant to the Institute (8 topics out of 16 in the call for projects).

This result reflects IRSN dynamism in the proposals made for Horizon 2020 and its contribution to collective action for research at the European level. Of these 11 projects, 3 are intended to structure European research in their field in a sustainable manner. For 2 other projects, IRSN led the construction of a collective response around a core of key competencies corresponding to the major issues of safety.

IRSN sees these results as a double recognition: it both acknowledges the place given to safety and radiation protection issues in a growing share of the selected projects, and recognizes IRSN involvement in structuring research activities in nuclear energy and radiation protection at European level.

This involvement is part of a fundamental shift in European R&D structuring, which aims to establish cooperation between all the actors in a field, to define a common and consistent vision, structure priorities and coordinate programs within European thematic platforms [1] such as the European associations MELODI, which studies the effects of low radiation doses, or NUGENIA in the field of pressurized water nuclear power reactors. These platforms’ production includes Strategic Research Agendas helping to structure optimally successive calls for projects. IRSN has been committed for years in these platforms where it specifically addresses the scientific issues for safety and radiation protection.

Note:

1. Research platforms are associative structures, involving stakeholders - research institutions, industry, universities – in a given field of research. They aim to define a common and consistent vision, structure R&D priorities, coordinate programmes and calls for projects, and gradually set up a joint programming.

​The 11 projects involving IRSN

Three projects which intend to sustainably structure European research in their field

• Concert (European Joint Programme for the Integration of Radiation Protection Research), on the governance of radiation protection; it aims to sustainably integrate national and European research projects in a European joint programming in radiation protection. IRSN is one of the organizations designated by the French authorities, alongside the National Research Agency (ANR) and the CEA, as project manager for France.
  Project presentation 
• Sitex 2 (Sustainable network for independent technical expertise of radioactive waste disposal – interactions and implementation), led by IRSN and following the Sitex project (2012-2013) on the management of nuclear waste; it develops a network of expertise to establish safety organizations’ joint priorities in the field of deep geological disposal of radioactive waste. 
  Project presentation
• Joprad (Towards a joint programming on geological disposal for high activity long lived radioactive waste), also on the management of nuclear waste; the aim of this project is to prepare the setting up of a joint programming on radioactive waste geological disposal to coordinate research at the European level. 
  Project presentation

Two projects for which IRSN led the construction of a collective response around a core of key competencies corresponding to the major issues of safety

• IVMR (In vessel melt retention), on power reactors safety; the project objective is an analysis of the feasibility and technical limits of In-Vessel Melt Retention (IVMR) as a safety strategy to manage severe accidents with core meltdown. 
  Project presentation
• Fastnet (Tool for the fast and reliable prediction of severe accident progression and anticipation of the source term of a nuclear accident), in the field of emergency preparedness and response management; at the crossroads of safety and radiation protection, the project aims to develop analytical tools in emergency preparedness, response management and drills, especially software for the rapid assessment of source terms for all types of severe accidents on European PWRs.
  Project presentation

Six other projects

• Soteria (Safe long term operation of light water reactors). Project presentation
• Sesame (Safety assessment of thermal hydraulics in metal cooled). Project presentation
• Incefa Plus (Covering gaps in fatigue assessment light water reactor environments). Project presentation
• Samofar (Reactor safety of molten salt fast reactor). Project presentation
• Modern2020 (Development and demonstration of monitoring strategies and technologies for geological disposal). Project presentation
• Cebama (Cement-based materials for geological disposal). Project presentation

Held simultaneously with the 58th Annual Session of the IAEA General Conference in September 2014, in Vienna (Austria), an international seminar entitled “Medical Management of Radiation Accidents: French and South American Experience and Cooperation” has been jointly organized by France, Brazil, Chile and the IAEA.

IRSN and the French Armed Forces Health Service (SSA) have worked in cooperation with the IAEA for around ten years on the subject of treatment for victims of radiological accidents, notably under the umbrella of the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency. 

The IAEA presented the actions taken to strengthen cooperation in this field between France and South American countries. 

The French experts focused on the need to develop capabilities for the medical management of radiation accidents in the world’s major regions, to draw lessons from recent experience in this field, and to implement diplomatic and financial measures to facilitate patient transfers between countries. 

They also pointed to the need to raise government awareness on the importance of requesting IAEA assistance as quickly as possible, since a key factor in the successful treatment of victims is the rapidity with which they receive treatment. 

Concrete examples of international cooperation were presented, including the successful treatment of Peruvian patients in Chile in 2013 and in Brazil this year, with support from French experts from IRSN and the SSA. The potential for expanding the partnership between France and South America was also discussed.

Euratom Directive 2013/59 of December 5, 2013 on basic safety standards (BSS) for protection against ionizing radiation must be transposed into the national law of each EU member state within the next four years. Based on its experience in implementing the regulations, IRSN is contributing its expertise to help the French public authorities for the transposition process.

Transposing the Euratom directive into national law involves considerable work to update the law in many different areas. In particular, the requirements related to natural sources of ionizing radiation must be tightened, a national action plan to protect against radon must be established, and measures applicable to accident and post-accident situations must be stepped up.

It also involves applying the new equivalent dose limit to the lens of the eyes, adapting the status of qualified experts and ensuring the protection of subcontract workers. The focus in the medical field is on the role of experts in medical physics and on inspecting equipment to protect patients.

These are all areas where IRSN can draw on its experience to assist French public authorities in transposing the directive into French law in the most efficient manner, avoiding an unnecessary burden on operators.

More information: Read the text of the Euratom Directive 2013/59 of 5 December 2013 on standards of basic safety

A nuclear emergency response drill involving a shipment of radioactive materials between the FBFC plant in Romans-sur-Isère in southeastern France and the port of Antwerp in northwestern Belgium was carried out on April 2, 2014.

The scenario was based on a fictional collision, followed by a fire, between a truck carrying containers of enriched uranium hexafluoride and a tanker truck on the border of France and Belgium. The drill was designed primarily to test relations between the authorities in the two countries and to coordinate local resources. It will serve as the basis for a larger-scale field exercise to be organized in the near future.

Carried out as part of the project called “Innovative integrative tools and platforms to be prepared for radiological emergencies and post-accident response in Europe” (PREPARE), a project designed to develop emergency response management tools funded by the European Commission and performed with IRSN's involvement, the drill was unique in that it involved testing the relations of two bordering countries, Belgium and France, in a nuclear emergency situation. Based at the IRSN Technical Center for Emergency Response near Paris, the drill brought together some thirty people from the FANC (Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control) and ASN (the competent authorities of Belgium and France), their respective technical safety organizations (Bel V for Belgium and IRSN for France), and the French carrier TN International.

The principal purpose of the exercise was to test relations between the authorities and their coordination of local resources, and secondly to identify necessary improvements, both in terms of the formal relations between the authorities and technical support organizations and in terms of coordinating local resources. IRSN, ASN, FANC, Bel V and TNI are planning to hold another field exercise on a larger scale in the near future.