François Drouet European ISOE Symposium Turku - 26 June 2008 Benchmarking visits: Feedback experience tool for the improvement of radiation protection in French NPPs François Drouet European ISOE Symposium Turku - 26 June 2008

European ISOE Symposium - Turku - 26 June 2008 Objective Since the beginning of the 90s, important efforts to improve ALARA for occupational exposures in French NPPs: Collective dose: 1.96 person.Sv/unit in 1996; 0.63 person.Sv/unit in 2007, Individual dose : 581 workers above 20 mSv/yr in 1996; none at the end of 2007, 2 workers above 16 mSv (12 months of 2007). Wish to continue these efforts of improvement. One of the ways: analyzing feedback experiences of organisation and practical implementation of radiation protection in foreign NPPs. European ISOE Symposium - Turku - 26 June 2008

European ISOE Symposium - Turku - 26 June 2008 Methodology Since 2003, CEPN has organized for EDF 9 benchmarking visits: Almaraz (Spain), Doel (Belgium), Ringhals (Sweden), Sizewell (UK), Saint Lucie (USA), Beznau (Switzerland), Vogtle (USA), Calvert Cliffs (USA), Paks (Hungary). Selection of NPPs based on ISOE data: good dosimetric results or recent improvements of these results. Team composed of 4 persons : 2 from EDF (one of them being a representative from a NPP) + 2 from CEPN. European ISOE Symposium - Turku - 26 June 2008

European ISOE Symposium - Turku - 26 June 2008 Methodology 5-day visits: interviews of the RP manager, representatives of other departments, visit of the radiation controlled area, etc. Interviews based on a standard questionnaire: Main radiation protection themes: organisation, preparation of activities, zoning, etc., Chemistry, Maintenance, Education and training, etc. During each visit, “good practices” identified: management and technical radiation protection European ISOE Symposium - Turku - 26 June 2008

Radiation protection well integrated into the management of NPPs Radiation protection plays an important role in the NPPs: High managerial position of the RPM: deputy director at Beznau, Saint Lucie: radiation protection is a top-priority for ensuring good operation and success of the plant (increase of the budget, improvement of education and training, etc.). Setting-up of objectives and performance indicators in radiation protection by the management. Clear ALARA policy: ALARA programmes, ALARA Committee (ex. of the Beznau ALARA Committee) St Lucie : moins bon résultats dosimétriques => direction du site a mis le paquet sur la RP => aux US, la RP est un élément clé de l’intercomparaison entre les sites + US => INPO RP a une place importante pour la notation des centrales Objectifs principalement en termes de dosimétrie (individuelle, collective, par arrêt…) European ISOE Symposium - Turku - 26 June 2008

Actions to reduce dose rates Reducing the source term: A matter of chemistry: optimisation of pH, zinc addition, optimisation of the purification systems, etc.; close collaboration between the chemists and radiation protection workers, A matter of design: reduction of the amounts of Ni and Co in the new components. Optimisation of the installation of biological shielding during outage: engineering (quantity and location) and professionalization of the task (Doel, Beznau). Parfois, la chimie et la RP dans le même département (Beznau, Sizewell, Ringhals avant réorganisation). Optimisation de la pose des PB: faire de l’opération une tâche planifiée, organisée et optimisée Société de pose a préparé un programme standard de pose en début d’AdT (tout est posé au début de l’arrêt) Personnel très qualifié et entraîné, formation en RP Propreté radiologique : élément majeur pour éviter la conta lors d’un chantier et à l’issu du chantier pour rendre au poste de travail sont aspect originel pour les travaux suivant European ISOE Symposium - Turku - 26 June 2008

Actions to reduce the time of exposure Modifications of the plant reducing the need for maintenance: change of the steam generators. In depth optimisation of the maintenance activities with the agreement of national safety authorities: at Doel, avoid any preventive maintenance on equipments that are not classified “important for safety or for production”. Doel : réduction du nombre de contrôles inutiles (aucune maintenance préventive sur les matériels et organes non classés important pour la sûreté ou pour la production European ISOE Symposium - Turku - 26 June 2008

Close and experienced radiation protection staff Close collaboration between radiation protection specialists and other workers: In the preparation and realisation of the outages: regular meetings between maintenance and RP specialists, Important presence of radiation protection specialists in the RCA, RP offices at the entrance of the RCA. Network of nominated RP workers at Paks. Low turnover for radiation protection specialists. Efficient education and training programme: refresher courses, training centres with mock-ups (Paks), etc. European ISOE Symposium - Turku - 26 June 2008

New tools in the service of radiation protection for the 21st century Information system adapted for radiation protection purposes (electronic database). Remote Monitoring Systems (RMS): Teledosimetry system allowing real time transmission of dosimetric information, Video monitoring and recording of activities, Audio communication system to facilitate communication, Centralization of the information in a central room. Radiation protection workers still on the field: intervention from “low dose rate areas” : reduction of the collective dose, mainly for radiation protection specialists. Video records can be used for training of the workers. Diminution des VTE des RP mais philosophie différente de la France, i.e. contrôle et pas autoprotection donc beaucoup plus de RP sur le terrain. Suivi à distance possible des niveaux de contamination atmosphérique dans les locaux via des balises reliées au système de télédosimétrie Centralisation des informations RP permet une capitalisation pour le REX Vidéo pour améliorer les gestes technique et la connaissance de l’environnement de l’intervention. European ISOE Symposium - Turku - 26 June 2008

European ISOE Symposium - Turku - 26 June 2008 Conclusions Dissemination of “good practices” directly on EDF sites through NPP representatives participating to the visit. For example, at Belleville NPP following the visit at Beznau, practices were suggested: Describing the suits with pictures when accessing the working areas, Indicating on the contractor’s badge the name of the persons from the site in charge of him. Domisse (Beznau) : Description des différentes tenues de travail sous forme de photo plutôt qu’une affiche décrivant les prescriptions Inscrire sur le badge des prestataires, le nom du responsable côté CNPE Beznau - Tricastin : discussions sur la chimie European ISOE Symposium - Turku - 26 June 2008

European ISOE Symposium - Turku - 26 June 2008 Conclusions Some of the visits were used to feed the thoughts of EDF management on important files: Second visit at Doel to analyse in detail the management of the installation of biological shielding, Examples of RWP used for the establishment of specific RWP at EDF, Information collected on RMS (in particular from Vogtle and Calvert Cliffs) have contributed to the working group established on that topic at EDF. Some practices are in accordance with and reinforce EDF strategies. Domisse (Beznau) : Description des différentes tenues de travail sous forme de photo plutôt qu’une affiche décrivant les prescriptions Inscrire sur le badge des prestataires, le nom du responsable côté CNPE European ISOE Symposium - Turku - 26 June 2008