3,000 TRISO particles each) and then packaged in graphite blocks. These blocks will then be stored at the facility pending shipment to the sites of future reactors operated by this company once they have been licensed. In 2025, ASNR continued the technical review of the creation authorisation application for this assembly plant, submitted by Jimmy Energy in 2024 to the Minister responsible for nuclear safety, who asked ASNR for technical review. ASNR will decide in 2026 what action to take with respect to this file. Jimmy Energy also plans to set up a TRISO particle manufacturing plant on the same site, in a new nuclear facility to be created. The Newcleo company is planning to set up a plant to manufacture MOX (Mixed OXide) fuel to supply the reactors it is developing. In December 2024, Newcleo sent ASN a Safety Options Dossier (DOS) on the design of this plant, which was reviewed in 2025. It should be noted that although Newcleo plans to locate the plant in the Aube département (Pont-sur-Seine and Marnay-sur-Seine), the DOS submitted does not include any analysis of the characteristics of the site in question. In 2026, ASNR will adopt a position on the safety options for the Newcleo MOX fuel plant in preparation of the project developer’s future creation application authorisation for the facility. The Stellaria company is developing a molten salt reactor and plans to set up a salt production line to supply its first experimental reactors. At the end of 2025, Stellaria submitted to the Minister responsible for nuclear safety a creation authorisation application for a Basic Nuclear Installation (BNI) called Alpha, which includes, in addition to an experimental reactor called Alvin, the Glenn facility, whose purpose is to manufacture the molten salt needed for the Alvin reactor. 2 –ASNR actions in the field of research facilities and miscellaneous industrial facilities: a graded approach 2.1 The graded approach according to the risks of the facilities The BNI System applies to more than about a hundred facilities in France. This System concerns various facilities with widely differing nuclear safety, radiation protection and environmental protection challenges: nuclear research or power reactors, radioactive waste storage or disposal facilities, fuel fabrication or reprocessing plants, laboratories, industrial ionisation facilities and so on. The safety principles applied to nuclear research or industrial facilities are similar to those adopted for nuclear power reactors and nuclear “fuel cycle” facilities, while taking account of their specificities with regard to risks and detrimental effects. ASNR implements an approach that is proportionate to the extent of the risks or drawbacks inherent in the facility. In this respect, it has divided the facilities under its oversight into three categories from 1 to 3 in descending order of the severity of the risks and drawbacks they present for the interests mentioned in Article L. 593-1of the Environment Code (ASN resolution 2015-DC-0523 of 29 September 2015). This BNI classification enables the oversight of the facilities to be adapted, thus reinforcing oversight of the facilities with major implications in terms of inspections and the examinations conducted by ASNR. For example, the RHF and Cabri research reactors are placed in categories 1 and 2 respectively, while the Ganil particle accelerator is placed in category 3. 2.2 The periodic safety reviews The Environment Code requires that licensees carry out a periodic safety review of their facilities every ten years. This periodic safety review is designed to assess the status of the facility with respect to the applicable regulations and to update the assessment of the risks or detrimental effects inherent in the facility, notably taking into account the condition of the facility, acquired operating experience, changes in knowledge and the rules applicable to similar facilities. They are thus an opportunity for upgrades or improvements in fields in which the safety requirements have changed, in particular seismic resistance, protection against fire and confinement. To date, all the nuclear research and miscellaneous facilities have undergone a periodic safety review. ASNR applies an examination method commensurate with the issues in the facilities: some of them require particular attention due to the risks they present; while for others – with a lower level of risk – the extent of the inspections and examinations is adapted accordingly. In 2025, ASNR concluded the assessment of the periodic safety reviews of the Cabri reactor (BNI 24) operated by CEA, the irradiator situated in Pouzauges (BNI 146) operated by Ionisos, the Heavy Ion Accelerator (BNI 113) operated by the Ganil GIE and UPRA (BNI 29) operated by CIS bio international. In 2025, ASNR continued to examine the periodic safety reviews of three laboratories (LECI – BNI 50, LECA – BNI 55 and Lefca – BNI 123), and the Magenta materials storage facility (BNI 169), all operated by CEA on its Cadarache site. 10 11 13 12 A / Z ASNR Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2025 333 09 08 01 05 02 06 03 07 04
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