Areva - Reference Document 2016

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RISK FACTORS 04
4.3 Legal risks
NUCLEAR FACILITIES FOR WHICH ENTITIES OF THE GROUP HOLD THE OPERATING PERMIT OR LICENSE
The main nuclear facilities to date, whether classified as regulated nuclear facilities in France (INB) or their corollaries in other countries, are listed below.
Location Business Unit
Legal entity
holding the license Description
Malvési, France Chemistry AREVA NC Packaging and storage of radioactive substances
Tricastin, France Chemistry AREVA NC Preparation of UF 6
Tricastin, France Chemistry AREVA NC Conversion of enriched uranium-bearing materials (U3O8)
Tricastin, France Chemistry AREVA NC Analytical laboratory
Tricastin, France Enrichment Eurodif Production Georges Besse gaseous diffusion enrichment plant
Tricastin, France Enrichment SET Georges Besse II centrifuge enrichment plant
Tricastin, France Enrichment Socatri Plant for uranium recovery and cleanup
Romans, France Fuel AREVA NP Fuel fabrication for research reactors
Romans, France Fuel AREVA NP Fuel fabrication for power reactors
Dessel, Belgium Fuel FBFC International SA Fabrication of uranium and MOX fuel (undergoing dismantling)
Lingen, Germany Fuel ANF Fuel fabrication
Richland, United States Fuel AREVA Inc. Fuel fabrication
Maubeuge, France Equipment Somanu Nuclear maintenance workshop
Veurey, France (1) Valuation SICN Fuel fabrication plant (undergoing decommissioning)
La Hague, France (2)
Recycling /
Decommissioning
& Dismantling AREVA NC Used fuel treatment plants and liquid effluent/ solid waste treatment facilities
Marcoule, France Recycling AREVA NC MELOX MOX fuel fabrication plant
(1) Two INBs at this site are in final shutdown/dismantling status, pending decommissioning.
(2) Seven INBs at this site, including four in final shutdown/dismantling status.
Internationally, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European
Commission have each established a system of nuclear materials safeguards.
Other international agreements adopted under the umbrella of the IAEA govern
nuclear safety in the facilities, including the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS)
and the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the
Safety of Radioactive Waste Management.
With respect to the European Union, the provisions of the Euratom Treaty and its
implementing provisions reinforce aspects related to nuclear materials safeguards
and established a common set of rules, in particular concerning public health
protection, radiation protection of workers and radioactive waste transportation. In
France, regulated nuclear facilities (INB, installations nucléaires de base) operated
by the group fall within a strict legal framework. Because of the risks or drawbacks
which these facilities may present for occupational health and safety and for public
health, or for the protection of nature and the environment, special authorizations
are delivered for the creation, startup, modification, safety review, dismantling and
decommissioning of the facilities, and govern in particular rules for nuclear safety,
protection of public health and of the environment, and themonitoring of radioactive
and non-radioactive releases. The license decrees required for certain operations
are granted following a public inquiry and an administrative process requiring the
opinion of several organizations. Procedures related to the creation, modification,
final shutdown and dismantling of regulated nuclear facilities are set by decree
no. 2007-1557 of November 2, 2007 pertaining to regulated nuclear facilities and,
in matters of nuclear safety, to the regulation of the transportation of radioactive
materials, as amended by decree no. 2016-846 of June 28, 2016. Pursuant to
this amended order, the general technical rules applicable to regulated nuclear
facilities were strengthened by the order of February 7, 2012 setting the general rules
pertaining to regulated nuclear facilities, of which most of the provisions became
effective on July 1, 2013. Moreover, the codified provisions of the TSN Law, of law
no. 2015-992 of August 17, 2015 on the Energy Transition for Green Energy (“TECV
Law”) and of order no. 2016-128 of February 10, 2016 containing various nuclear-
related provisions, stipulate administrative and penal sanctions (articles L. 596-14
et seq. and articles L. 596-27et seq. of the Environmental Code). In addition, each
INB operator much submit an annual information report focusing in particular on
the measures taken as concerns nuclear safety and radiation protection, which is
made public (article L. 125-15 of the Environmental Code).
Regulated nuclear facilities are monitored closely by the French nuclear safety
authority ASN, an independent administrative authority. Operations abroad are
subject to the same type of rigorous control, the United States Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) being one example.
In France, some facilities operated by the group are subject to regulations pertaining
to environmentally regulated facilities (ICPE), depending on the operations
performed or the substances involved. These facilities of the group, which may
represent hazards or drawbacks for occupational health and safety, for public health,
or for the protection of nature and the environment, are subject to prior reporting
to the Prefecture, to a registration process, or to a licensing process. In the last
case, the operating license or permit granted upon completion of a public inquiry,
after consultation with various organizations, takes the form of a prefectural order
accompanied by specific operating requirements.
2016 AREVA REFERENCE DOCUMENT 17