Luxembourg and France have agreed to continue their cooperation in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection following the fourteenth meeting of the Franco-Luxembourg Joint Commission on Nuclear Security on Thursday 4 February 2016.
The meeting was held at the headquarters of the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) in Montrouge, where the two countries confirmed their willingness to continue discussions on the various aspects of their cooperation.
Cattenom Nuclear Power Plant
The two side discussed the main events which occurred in the last year, with ASN and EDF particularly highlighting the following incidents:
- Changes to the inclusion of accident experience feedback from Fukushima, which are being integrated ahead of the deadlines announced;
- The triggering of the internal emergency plan on 28 May 2015 as a result of the untimely opening of a steam valve on reactor 1. The members of the Committee noticed that the information was shared without difficulty on May 28 with the rules laid down by the bilateral agreement on the information alert and exchange in the even of a radiological emergency, signed in 2015 by both parties.
According to the group, the year 2016 is a year of major strategic importance for the Cattenom site: three reactor shutdowns are planned and the ten-year inspection of reactor No.1 will allow security changes to be made.
Bure Laboratory and the Cigéo Project for the Deep Geological Storage of Radioactive Waste Project
A public inquiry in accordance with French environmental regulations is due to be conducted as part of the authorisation of the installation procedure. The French delegation confirmed that Luxembourg's participation in the public inquiry process is planned.
Management of Emergency Situations
The two delegations spoke on the bilateral agreement regarding the alert and information exchange in the event of a radiological emergency.
France and Luxembourg has also been collaborating on this subject in the context of the activities of the Heads of European Radiological Protection Competent Authorities (HERCA) association, relative to the implementation of the HERCA-WENRA approach "for better cross-border coordination of protection actions during the first phase of a nuclear accident".
Luxembourg promoted this approach during its twelfth Presidency of the European Union, during which conclusions on preparedness and response to offsite nuclear emergencies were adopted. At the European level, the two countries work together within ENSREG and on the organisation of a seminar on this approach which would bring together European authorities on radiation protection, nuclear safety and civil protection in Bled, Slovenia, on 14 and 15 June 2016. In 2016, the parties have finally planned to implement this approach effectively at the bilateral level, as part of the international INEX 5 exercise organised under the aegis of the AEN.
Radiation in the Medical Sector
Both delegations confirmed their interest in cooperation in this field at the regional (cross-holdings inspections) and national (justification of medical procedures) level.
The next committee meeting has been scheduled for February 2017 in Luxembourg.
