1 ASSYSTEM 2018 NUCLEAR RISK MANAGEMENT REPORT ASSYSTEM 2018 NUCLEAR RISK MANAGEMENT REPORT FOREWORD This document is the sixth edition of the Assystem Nuclear Risk Management report, and the second one to be issued on an international scale, as the first years were focused on the French nuclear activities of the company. It is addressed to Christian Jeanneau, SVP Nuclear, and aims to give a long-term perspective to all Assystem employees in nuclear, who are involved in nuclear safety along with their customers and the nuclear operators. I want to thank them all for their commitment and positive contributions to nuclear safety. This report points out some achievements but also some weaknesses, which I am confident we will fix in 2019. In any case, they must be looked at as opportunities to foster our common nuclear safety culture, which is one of our first collective assets. In this report, the reader will also find some prospective ideas that might help meet some major upcoming challenges: our international development and the digitalisation of our world. Jean-François Bossu, Nuclear Risk Management Director 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 1. ASSYSTEM NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES 6 1/ Long expertise of lifecycle developments 6 2/ Various types of projects and activities 6 • Nuclear Power Plants 7 • Fuel cycle facilities 8 • Innovative and Experimental projects 8 • Defence activities 8 • Dismantling and waste management activities 9 2. NUCLEAR RISK MANAGEMENT IN 2018 10 1/ Nuclear Risk management Scope 10 2/ Commitment to nuclear development 10 • Internal approach 10 • Openness to the outside 10 • Long term commitment to nuclear 11 3/ Nuclear risk challenges 11 • Feedback and safety culture 11 • Training 11 • Radiation protection 12 • Occupational safety 14 • Regulatory watch 14 4/ Quality in nuclear 14 • Quality assurance issues 14 • Certifications 15 3. FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS 16 1/ Nuclear safety culture in engineering 16 • Sharing at all steps 16 • Promoting engineering principles in nuclear safety 16 • HSE on construction sites and international projects 17 • Training e-learning 17 • Innovative projects and digital transformation 17 2/ Quality assurance issues 17 • International Standards 17 • Graded approach and Nuclear Safety culture 17 • Modification of Assystem administrative tools 18 4. CONCLUSION 19 1/ Main 2018 achievements 19 2/ Directions for 2019 19 5 ASSYSTEM 2018 NUCLEAR RISK MANAGEMENT REPORT ASSYSTEM 1. NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES Being involved in nuclear since 1966, Assystem considers nuclear safety 2/ VARIOUS TYPES OF PROJECTS AND as key for future developments. Historically driven by the commissioning ACTIVITIES of facilities, Assystem nuclear activities now extend to technical design, operation support, maintenance planning and decommissioning. The global approach of nuclear safety issues aims at guarantying a This lifecycle approach naturally connects with system engineering, a seamless propagation of the nuclear safety concerns of Assystem discipline that is now starting to make an impact in the nuclear industry, customers, such as nuclear operators to all the stakeholders, within along with the use of digital tools and data analysis techniques in nuclear Assystem and its partners, at all the levels of the supply chain. This industrial activities. principle applies to all types of projects and activities. Therefore, Assystem nuclear safety culture and discipline embrace all the h With more than 2.500 nuclear experts, among which activities listed below: 170 specialised in nuclear safety, Assystem has • Owner Engineer; become the leading independent European nuclear engineering company. • Project Management Office (PMO); • Architect Engineer; Nuclear safety keeps a special place in the system engineering approach, • Technical studies (site surveys, risk evaluation…); as the requirements brought by nuclear safety analysis have an impact on all the disciplines at stake in a nuclear facility. Assystem nuclear safety • Inspection (technical checks and conformity assessment…). experts play a key transverse role in all the nuclear projects. This holistic The digital methodologies and tools, such as data analysis, are not listed approach of nuclear safety extends worldwide, in particular in countries here because they do not appear as standalone activities yet. So far, that develop new nuclear power plant programs. they correspond to internal developments and apply to more classical engineering activities. Nevertheless, they are tightly linked to nuclear 1/ LONG EXPERTISE OF LIFECYCLE safety. This point is presented in the ‘innovation’ section of this document. DEVELOPMENTS The following diagrams describe the spectrum of Assystem activities: Assystem activities initially started with the commissioning of the nuclear Nuclear Safety issues are common to most of these activities. Some fuel cycle facilities in France. This involvement in nuclear has never of them, such as compliance, inspection or nuclear risk analysis are decreased and has always been intimately linked to nuclear safety issues. directly linked to the nuclear safety discipline. Some others, such as In the UK, experience stretches back to the 1980’s in reactor build, digital engineering or project management tend to require more and submarine propulsion and waste management, all with an emphasis on more understanding of nuclear safety prescriptions and requirements. In the nuclear safety culture. the same time, standards put nuclear safety culture development at the Assystem nuclear expertise aims at proposing support to the nuclear forefront of nuclear engineering. This tendency is parallel to Assystem operators to: efforts to develop skills, encouraging cross-sectors experience for its engineers and technicians. • bring new developments, including time, schedule and budget optimization; h Assystem intends to take advantage of various • operate performance enhancement and existing facilities life lifecycle activities and diverse projects types to extension; foster expertise within its technical teams in nuclear. • identify lessons learnt benefits to new generations of facilities; • raise safety, environmental and securities issues. This cross-development between project stages is part of the foundations of safety culture, as defined by the IAEA. For instance, design activities Nuclear safety culture development is the backbone of these missions. must foresee future operations and dismantling must look back at all Therefore, Assystem long-term use of French regulations has always the previous phases. By extension, the nuclear risk management referred to international standards, such as IAEA guides and safety rules. discipline encourages operational teams of various fields (reactors, fuel This enables a seamless adaptation to new international programs, with cycle facilities, experimental processes…) to share and compare their new nuclear operators and unfamiliar local regulations. approach to nuclear safety principles. h At Assystem, the nuclear safety culture is shared and discussed as part of a constructive exchange, with employees, partners and contractors. 6 ASSYSTEM NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES Figure 1 - Assystem activity spectrum > NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS (NPP) In Turkey New build and Operation support In Akkuyu (Mersin province), Assystem was involved in the initial environmental studies for the 4 VVER 12001 reactors. In a first phase, Assystem contributes to design studies and to installation and Assystem performed some construction supervision activities. commissioning activities of new reactors, such as EPRs. For example, for the commissioning of Flamanville 3 EPR, Assystem currently mobilizes Independently, a second phase consists in leading on-site inspection for over 150 engineers and technicians. the construction and installation activities that are important for nuclear safety. The objective of this mission is to guarantee that the general In any country, nuclear safety related activities must comply with the local contractor and its subcontractors build ‘as per approved design’. This regulations and the nuclear operator internal prescriptions. NCIO2 phase is to last for a period of six years, under the framework of the Turkish law 30024 published in March 2017. It requires a specific h Assystem company global processes promote the qualification by the Turkish nuclear safety regulator (TAEK). local analysis of regulations and best practices, in order to comply with operator and regulator In Saudi Arabia prescriptions, without deviating from internationally Under the authority of the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable adopted nuclear safety principles Energy (K.A.CARE), Assystem has started siting operations in the perspective of the construction of a nuclear power plant. In that context, In the UAE Assystem completes a comprehensive and detailed site characterization and evaluation of two selected sites. Consequently, Assystem supports In Barakah, UAE, Assystem provides on-site engineering support of the 4 the Nuclear Site Licensing process by providing the preliminary APR reactors, owned by ENEC and operated by NAWAH. Site Evaluation Report (SER), the preliminary Environmental Impact This support started in 2013 with on-site CPO (chief program office), set Assessment (EIA) and the Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR) – ‘Site to ensure that the project meets technical and regulatory requirements characteristics and site parameters’ chapter. during the construction phase. The licensing process mission covers