Research facilities in operation There are safety issues around the research facilities in operation linked to the development of their R&D activities (support for the current and future nuclear fleet), their activities to support other CEA facilities, and their being maintained in safe and operational conditions in compliance with the prescriptions stipulated further to their periodic safety reviews (renovation and seismic reinforcement works, removal of radioactive substances and waste from storage, etc.). As with the decommissioning and waste management projects, ASNR observes that CEA is encountering major difficulties with meeting the deadlines initially set for the refurbishment of old facilities or the removal of legacy substances and waste present in these facilities. However, ASNR notes positively the implementation in 2025 of high-level joint monitoring by CEA and ASNR of the deadlines for the operations and works that present the main safety challenges for these facilities. In particular, ASN had, in 2024, ordered the implementation by 2027 of a system for detecting and automatically cutting off the Atalante facility’s water and electricity supplies in the event of an earthquake. This monitoring has enabled ASNR to check the progress of the work, and in particular the achievement of a first milestone in July 2025, in accordance with CEA’s commitment. This monitoring system will have to be consolidated in 2026 to include intermediate milestones on the critical path of the projects concerned. The main new research facility project sponsored by CEA, the Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR), is being carried out satisfactorily and transparently. BNI operations RISK CONTROL AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ASNR considers that the safety of the facilities is satisfactory. During the course of the inspections carried out in 2025, it nonetheless identified certain topics which require improvements. This mainly concerns the performance of periodic checks and tests, waste reconditioning operations, the safety of shielded cell handling operations and the traceability of outside contractor monitoring, and analysis of the results. For the year 2025, the number of significant safety-related events notified by CEA remains of the same order of magnitude as in 2024. A large number of these notifications once again concerns non-compliance with the frequencies mentioned in the BNI general operating rules. ASNR considers that CEA must pay particular attention to this point. With regard to emergency management, ASNR considers that the situation is not satisfactory, both at the Cadarache site, where CEA is significantly behind schedule in the construction of the new emergency management buildings, and at the Saclay site, where inspectors noted operational shortcomings following the commissioning of the new emergency situations management premises (the shortcomings concerned atmospheric sampling and measurement equipment, and mobilisation and intervention times for mobile sampling and measurement means that exceeded the specified values). Finally, during a dedicated inspection in 2025, ASNR found that the measures implemented by CEA to comply with the requirements for the supply of equipment or parts for Protection Important Components (PICs) for its facilities, and for the oversight of suppliers of such equipment for the purpose of monitoring the supply chain, were satisfactory. PERSONNEL RADIATION PROTECTION Following an increase in the number of Significant Radiation Protection Events (ESRs) notified by CEA in 2024, the number in 2025 returned to a level equivalent to 2023 and 2022. However, it should be noted that two significant events at level 1 on the INES scale occurred at the CEA Fontenay-aux-Roses site. One of the events involved the authorised activity level being exceeded during handling of waste in a room, resulting in contamination of workers’ clothing. The other involved a fire outbreak as a result of an exothermic reaction during suction of a small quantity of powder that had not been clearly identified during the risk analysis carried out prior to the operations. ASNR is monitoring the progress of the additional investigations and the implementation of the corrective actions taken by the licensee, and will remain vigilant with regard to the management of waste in the building concerned, in particular the storage and handling conditions. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Control of detrimental effects and the impact on the environment by CEA’s facilities, for the year 2025, is satisfactory. The number of significant environmental events notified in 2025 is down on previous years, with no notable events. ASNR considers, however, that CEA must continue its efforts to take measures in several areas associated with environmental protection, notably with regard to soil pollution. ASNR finds it regrettable that CEA has still not developed, or implemented operationally at the sites, a national strategy for the management of contaminated sites and soils. However, ASNR noted an improvement in the maintenance and refurbishment of existing piezometric structures needed to characterise groundwater, and in the network verification programme for preventing groundwater pollution. Safety reassessment of facilities ASNR considers that the organisation put into place by CEA to evaluate the conformity of its facilities and reassess their safety during the periodic safety reviews, is appropriate. The inspections carried out by ASNR on the topic of the periodic safety reviews identified some points for improvement which must be addressed by CEA, notably concerning monitoring of the action plan as a result of the periodic safety review. CEA will also have to continue its efforts in the coming years in order to comply with the schedule for implementation of the compliance and safety improvement work defined by these periodic safety reviews, so that in all cases a new review can be started once the deployment of the action plan from the previous review has been completed. Individual facility assessments The ASNR assessments of each centre and each nuclear facility are detailed in the Regional Overview in this report. ABSTRACTS – ASNR Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2025 25
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