The government, which wants to reform nuclear safety in the context of the revival of the atom, proposes to bring together the two current institutions in a “Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority”, to be created on January 1, 2025, according to a preliminary draft of law consulted Monday by AFP.
Six months after having failed to have this project adopted in Parliament, then slipped into a legislative amendment, the government this time presents a dedicated text of 18 articles, entitled bill relating to the organization of the governance of nuclear safety and radiation protection for respond to the challenge of relaunching the nuclear industry.
Consultations on the text will extend over the month of November, in order to finalize the bill and present it to the Council of Ministers by the end of the year, the Minister of Energy Transition said on Monday. Parliament will therefore arrive at the beginning of next year, he adds.
According to this project, the future Authority brings together the activities of the current Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) and the Institute of Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), under the most protective status in French law, offering the greatest guarantee of impartiality: the status of independent administrative authority, explains the explanatory memorandum.
This development will make it possible to meet expectations in terms of deadlines and efficiency of the expertise, instruction, authorization and control processes, he adds, with the government intending to respond effectively, both in terms of level of safety as well as the rate of charge, the unprecedented relaunch of nuclear power.
The future authority will not be the juxtaposition of current organizations and interfaces; On the contrary, it will make it possible to streamline instruction processes, ensure better alignment of priorities and strengthen the sharing of information, it is said again.
For months, the inter-union of IRSN, the expert body in the sector, has been standing up against this reform, like the UFC-Que Choisir or the association of residents of power plants (Anccli), who fear less independence expertise and a loss of transparency.
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