CEA MARCOULE CENTRE Created in 1955, the CEA centre at Marcoule accommodates three civilian facilities: the Atalante laboratories (BNI 148), the Phénix NPP (BNI 71) and the Diadem storage facility (BNI 177). Atalante facility – CEA centre The main purpose of the Alpha facilities and laboratories for transuranium elements analysis and reprocessing studies (Atalante – BNI 148), created in the 1980s, is to conduct research and development in the recycling of nuclear fuels, the examination of ultimate waste, and the exploration of new concepts for fourthgeneration nuclear systems. In order to extend these research activities, activities and equipment from the Laboratory for research and fabrication of advanced nuclear fuels (Lefca – BNI 123) were transferred here from the CEA Cadarache centre in 2017. ASN published resolution 2022-DC-0720 of 19 April 2022 imposing on the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) the requirements applicable to Atalante and designed to regulate the continued operation of the BNI. In 2025, CEA announced that it would be unable to meet the deadline of 31 December 2035 for reprocessing the Radioactive Organic Liquids (ROLs) stored at the facility, due to changes in the strategy for reprocessing waste with no immediate disposal route, with the end date for treating some of the ROLs now set at around 2069 and the start of new R&D activities for reprocessing the rest of the waste. This change of strategy also calls into question the authorised activities set out in the Creation Authorisation Decree for the facility. CEA plans to present justification for this strategy in the report concluding the review of Atalante, due before 31 December 2026. Pending the disposal of these ROLs, CEA must demonstrate that their long-term storage in the Atalante facility is safe, in particular by taking steps to ensure that the ROL storage drums do not corrode and by demonstrating that it has the sampling capacity to monitor their physico-chemical quality. ASNR must state their position on possible changes to the technical requirements from the last periodic safety review in light of CEA’s change of strategy. A significant event classified at level 1 on the INES scale, linked to deficiencies in periodic safety inspections and fire risk monitoring tests, was reported by CEA in 2025. The large number of premises affected and the length of time during which these checks were not carried out are generic in nature within the Atalante perimeter. In the area of criticality, the action plan implemented following the level 1 significant event declared in 2024 is currently being rolled out, particularly for aspects relating to human factors. In 2025, CEA declared a new event linked to the accounting of reflector materials in the Atalante laboratories. Through the inspections carried out in 2025, ASNR noted that the initial actions implemented following the significant events linked to the criticality risk are being properly followed up. ASNR is now awaiting the implementation of actions linked to the conclusions of the analysis of human and organisational factors and the measures that will be implemented in terms of means and resources to prevent the recurrence of these events. ASNR considers that the level of nuclear safety at Atalante is fairly satisfactory, particularly in terms of fire and criticality risk prevention. Improvements are expected in fire sectorisation and the efficiency of Atalante’s automatic gas extinguishing system. The arrangements for monitoring radioactivity in the environment, examined during inspections carried out in 2025, are satisfactory. Supervision of outside contractors is carried out correctly and enables regulatory feedback to be provided. Phénix reactor – CEA centre The Phénix NPP (BNI 71) is a demonstration fast breeder reactor cooled with liquid sodium. This reactor, with an electrical power rating of 250 MWe, was definitively shut down in 2009 and is currently being decommissioned. The major decommissioning phases are regulated by Decree 2016739 of 2 June 2016. ASN resolution 2016-DC-0564 of 7 July 2016 sets the CEA various milestones and decommissioning operations. The removal of irradiated fuel and the removal of equipment continued in 2025, although behind schedule in relation to the objective for the year. This action is a major safety commitment by CEA, with the aim of removing 75% of the source term of irradiated standard assemblies before 2029. In December 2024, CEA submitted a request to modify the BNI 71 Decommissioning Decree, mainly with a view to changing the phasing of the decommissioning operations to favour treatment of the sodium. This application to modify the authorisation is linked to the decommissioning strategy for all CEA facilities. Construction of the NOAH facility, for which the application for commissioning was submitted in 2022, and which will provide part of the sodium processing for Phénix and other CEA facilities, progressed in 2025 with the continuation of operational tests, prior THE INSTALLATIONS AND ACTIVITIES TO REGULATE COMPRISE: ▸ basic nuclear installations: • the Golfech NPP (2 reactors of 1,300 MWe), • the CEA Marcoule research centre, which includes the civil BNIs Atalante and Phénix, and the Diadem waste storage facility construction site, • the Melox “MOX” nuclear fuel production plant, • the Centraco facility for reprocessing low-level radioactive waste, • the Gammatec industrial irradiator, • the Écrin waste storage facility on the Malvési site; ▸ small-scale nuclear activities in the medical sector: • small-scale nuclear activities in the medical sector: • 14 external beam radiotherapy departments, • 6 brachytherapy departments, • 19 nuclear medicine departments, • 95 centres practising fluoroscopy-guided interventional procedures, • 125 computed tomography scanners, • some 5,000 medical and dental radiology devices; ▸ small-scale nuclear activities in the industrial, veterinary and research sectors: • about 800 industrial and research centres, including 4 cyclotron particle accelerators and 27 companies with an industrial radiography activity, and 59 laboratories, mainly located in the region’s universities, • some 600 veterinary surgeries or clinics practising diagnostic radiology; ▸ activities associated with the transport of radioactive substances; ▸ ASNR-approved laboratories and organisations: • 6 laboratories approved for taking environmental radioactivity measurements, • 6 organisations approved for measuring radon, • 2 organisations approved for radiation protection controls. Chap.7 Chap 6 Chap.5 Occitanie ABSTRACTS – ASNR Report on the state of nuclear safety and radiation protection in France in 2025 83
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