Lth bill “relating to the organization of the governance of nuclear safety and radiation protection to meet the challenge of relaunching the nuclear sector”which will be discussed in the Senate at the beginning of February, has as its essential purpose the merger of the Institute of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) with the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN).
This project reorganizes the governance of nuclear safety with the main objective of simplifying and accelerating authorization procedures. However, it is likely to have a significant impact on the level of safety, and should therefore be examined as such. Organization is an essential factor of safety in the nuclear sector.
International feedback, with studies from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), shows that a considerable proportion of serious incidents result from organizational causes, both within the companies and agencies concerned. than in the institutional relationships established between them.
This is not specific to nuclear power: the in-depth studies carried out by major researchers on accidents in the space sector (Challenger shuttle disasters in 1986 and Columbia in 2003), aeronautics (air disaster in Tenerife in 1977) , chemical (Bhopal accident, in India, in 1984) and oil (BP’s Deep Water Horizon platform, in 2010) show the key role that organizational factors such as the circulation and transparency of information, censorship or self-censorship of actors, possibilities for contradictory debates, clarification of roles, mobilization of adequate skills, reliability procedures, pressure on deadlines, etc.
Diversity of points of view expressed
It is for this reason that in-depth and precise impact analyzes are normally required in the nuclear sector in the event of significant organizational change in one of the entities concerned.
However, there is every reason to believe that the merger of the IRSN – the expert responsible for technical studies and research – with the ASN – the administrative authority responsible for controls and shutdown or authorization decisions start-up – a significant organizational modification that could have an impact on the level of security.
Indeed, two elements must be taken into consideration in this decision. Firstly, one of the key organizational safety factors systematically identified in the research cited above is the diversity of points of view expressed and taken into account in the final decision.
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