LES ACTIVITÉS NUCLÉAIRES : RAYONNEMENTS IONISANTS ET RISQUES POUR LA SANTÉ ET L’ENVIRONNEMENT 2.8.2 – Assessment of health and safety, professional relations and quality of employment in EDF Nuclear Power Plants In 2025, labour inspectors carried out inspections as part of campaigns defined in ASNR’s annual labour inspection roadmap on the following topics: work equipment used for lifting, circulation of mobile work equipment and ventilation of workplaces with specific pollution. As in 2024, the inspections carried out by the labour inspectors show that worksite preparation needs to be improved, notably to limit the risks of exposure to asbestos and lead. Lifting work and traffic rules on the sites are also points considered by the inspectors to merit particular attention. ASNR remains vigilant as to the effective deployment of the action plans defined by EDF in these areas. Labour inspectors also issued reminders about risk prevention during periods of severe heatwawes. In addition, numerous topics were the subject of request concerning collective protection against falls from height (maintenance of guardrails, gratings and cage ladders), fire risk prevention (audibility of the alarm signal, evacuation routes, fire drills) and periodic verifications (electrical installations, ventilation systems). Finally, the labour inspectors followed up all the events compromising worker safety that had occurred on the sites, systematically initiating inquiries in the event of serious or fatal accidents or serious near accidents. They were also called on to deal with cases relating to working hours risks. ASNR notes that, according to EDF data, the overall accident rate in 2025 is 3% lower than in 2024. These labour accidents mainly concern tripping, manual handling and handling of objects or tools. In 2025, the social climate was tense on a few occasions, notably when the organisation notes were revised in a busy industrial context. 3 – Continued operation of the Nuclear Power Plants 3.1 The age of the Nuclear Power Plants The NPPs currently in service in France were built over a relatively short period of time: 45 nuclear power reactors representing almost 50 Gigawatts electric (GWe), i.e. three quarters of the power delivered by all French nuclear power reactors, were commissioned between 1980 and 1990, and seven reactors, representing 10 GWe, between 1991 and 2000. In December 2025, the average age of the 57 reactors in operation, calculated on the basis of the first divergence dates, will be as follows: ∙43 years for the 32 nuclear power reactors of 900 MWe; ∙38 years for the 20 nuclear power reactors of 1,300 MWe; ∙26 years for the four nuclear power reactors of 1,450 MWe; ∙1 year for the EPR reactor (1,600 MWe). 3.2 The periodic safety review The principle of the periodic safety review Every ten years, EDF must carry out a periodic safety review of its installations. The periodic safety reviews of nuclear power reactors comprise the following two parts: ∙Checking the condition of the installation and its compliance: this initial stage is to assess the status of the installation in terms of the rules that apply to it. It is based on a range of inspections and tests in addition to those performed in real-time. These verifications may comprise design reviews, field inspections of the equipment, or even ten-yearly tests such as the containment pressure tests. Any deviations detected during these investigations are then restored to conformity within a time-frame commensurate with their potential consequences. Ageing management is also incorporated into this part of the review. ∙The safety reassessment: this second stage aims to improve the level of safety, notably taking account of the experience acquired during operation, changing knowledge, the requirements applicable to the more recent installations and international best practices. Following these reassessment studies, EDF identifies the changes it intends to make to its facilities in order to enhance safety. The review process for the EDF nuclear power reactors In order to benefit from the standardisation of its nuclear power reactors, EDF initially implements a review of the provisions common to all the reactors of a given type (900 MWe, 1,300 MWe or 1,450 MWe reactors). The results of this programme are then applied to each reactor on the occasion of its periodic safety review. EDF carries out a large part of the checks and modifications related to the periodic safety reviews during the ten-yearly inspections of its reactors. In accordance with the provisions of Article L. 593-19 of the Environment Code, the licensee sends ASNR a conclusion report at the end of the periodic safety review. In this report, the licensee states its position on the conformity of its facility and details the modifications made to remedy deviations observed or to improve the safety of the facility and, as necessary, specifies the additional improvements that it will be making. Analysis by ASNR ASNR examines the periodic safety reviews in several stages. It first of all issues a position statement on the objectives of the review and the guidelines of the generic programmes to verify the state of the facility and the safety reassessment proposed by EDF, after obtaining the opinion of the Advisory Committees of Experts (GPEs). On this basis, EDF carries out safety reassessment studies and defines the installation modifications to be made. ASNR then issues a position statement on the results of these studies and on these modifications, after again consulting the GPEs. This position statement closes the generic phase of the periodic safety review, common to all reactors of the same type. This generic review does not take account of any specific characteristics of individual installations and ASNR gives a ruling on the suitability of each nuclear power reactor for continued operation, notably on the basis of the results of the conformity checks and the assessment made in the periodic safety examination concluding report for the reactor submitted by EDF. Following examination of this report, ASNR communicates its analysis to the Ministry responsible for nuclear safety. It can issue new requirements governing its continued operation. A public inquiry is held concerning the concluding report for the periodic safety reviews beyond the 35th year of operation of a nuclear power reactor. Five years after submission of this report, the licensee sends ASNR an interim report on the implementation of the requirements stipulated by the review, as a result of which ASNR may add to these requirements. 3.3 Ongoing periodic safety reviews in the Nuclear Power Plants 3.3.1 – The 900 MWe reactors The fourth periodic safety review EDF’s 32 reactors of 900 MWe in operation were commissioned between 1978 and 1987. More than half have reached the deadline for their fourth periodic safety review. 304 ASNR Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2025
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