Nuclear Defense safety, nuclear security, nuclear and chemical non-proliferation

Within a formalised conventional framework, IRSN provides support or technical aid to the DSND (Representative in charge of Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection for Defense-related Activities and Facilities), the HFDS (Senior Defense and Security Officials) of the Ministry of Ecological Transition (MTE) and the Ministries of the Economy, Finance and Recovery (MEFR), and the EURATOM Technical Committee (CTE).

The missions entrusted to the Institute cover the fields of the nuclear safety of facilities and activities of interest to defense, protection against acts of malice, and the control of nuclear materials, facilities and transport (with the exception of the field of deterrence), as well as the application in France of the international treaties for combating the proliferation of chemical or nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

This comprises the technical appraisal of dossiers submitted by operators to the Authorities, the conduct of studies in disciplines such as cybersecurity or the effects of weapons and explosives, as well as various activities that are more directly operational, in particular supporting inspections designed to check compliance with the requirements linked to the international undertakings incumbent on France, keeping centralised accounts of nuclear materials, or monitoring the transportation of nuclear materials on national territory. IRSN also conducts studies or tests in partnership with specialised national or international organisations on personal protective equipment (PPE), in order to test the equipment’s capacities and vulnerabilities. In 2021, efforts were focused on the development of rapid pre-analysis tools for the effects of an explosion on a facility or during transportation, as well as on the reproduction of a command and control system for the application of cyber-attack intrusion tests.

TECHNICAL NOTICES
AND REPORTS SUBMITTED
TO THE ASND

TECHNICAL NOTICES ISSUED TO THE HFDS
(SENIOR DEFENSE AND SECURITY OFFICIAL)
OF THE MINISTRY OF ECOLOGICAL TRANSITION (MTE)

TECHNICAL NOTICES SENT
TO THE CTE AND TO THE HFDS
(SENIOR DEFENSE AND SECURITY
OFFICIAL) OF THE FINANCE MINISTRIES

Nuclear defence safety

In 2021, IRSN continued its activities in support of the Directorate of nuclear security (Délégué à la sûreté nucléaire – DSN) for facilities and activities concerning defense in the framework of ongoing nuclear-powered submarine programmes. The Institute has also examined the safety of laboratories and plants relevant to defense, such as CEA Valduc (Côte-d’Or).

NAVAL PROPULSION

IRSN periodically examines the feedback from naval propulsion boilers for the DSND (Representative in charge of Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection for Defense-related Activities and Facilities). The lessons learnt from the period 2017-2019, in particular from the action plans implemented in the context of extending the service life of Rubis-type submarines, were presented to the reactor safety commission on 24 June 2021. At this meeting, which marked the culmination of many technical exchanges since the start of 2020 between the IRSN expert appraisal services and the French Navy, the commission was able to note how well the feedback process had been appropriated by those concerned, and underlined the quality of the work accomplished, not least with respect to the set deadlines.

Furthermore, as part of its support for the DSND, IRSN was involved in the operational commissioning of the Suffren, the first nuclear attack submarine of the Barracuda programme, the sea trials for which began in 2021. The construction of the next submarines, taking place in Cherbourg (Manche), will give rise to the safety review of the Duguay-Trouin, scheduled for 2022.

The Institute has also conducted a safety assessment of the work carried out to adapt the ground support facilities for the on-board nuclear boilers, for the naval bases at Brest (Finistère) and Toulon (Var).

LABORATORIES AND PLANTS RELEVANT TO DEFENSE

IRSN has examined from a safety perspective the planned changes on the CEA Valduc site (Côte-d’Or), dedicated to French nuclear deterrence. Current programmes relate both to the reconfiguration of existing facilities and the construction of new facilities in order to keep up-to-date and adapt to the needs of deterrence. In 2021, the Institute took part in the meeting of the laboratories and factories safety and waste management commission (CSLUD), which represents one of the safety review gates of this long-haul programme.

Nuclear security

In 2021, the main actions of IRSN in the field of nuclear security related to the revision of the regulatory corpus on nuclear security, the examination of studies of acts of malice on nuclear sites, the signing of collaborative agreements, and the development of innovative tools in the fields of detonation technology and cybersecurity.

NUCLEAR FACILITIES SECURITY APPRAISALS

In 2021, IRSN conducted in-depth technical examinations of studies of acts of malice on nuclear sites, and in particular the CEA sites at Cadarache (Bouches-du-Rhône), Fontenay-aux-Roses (Hauts-de-Seine), Marcoule (Gard) and Saclay (Essonne). Submitted at the end of 2021, the first notice from IRSN relating to CEA site security concerned the site at Fontenay-aux-Roses. To conduct this wide-ranging work and coordinate the contributions from its experts, IRSN organised itself in project mode, reflecting the number of persons involved and the various facets to be studied.

PRODUCTION OF AN ASSESSMENT GUIDE FOR THE SECURITY OF OPENINGS

After several years supporting the MTE and ASN in the formulation of national regulations for the security of radioactive sources, published in late 2019, IRSN was called upon to draft an assessment guide for the resistance of doors and openings. This document comprises the fundamentals in the field of physical protection for enabling all inspectors called upon to travel to a site to pronounce on the vulnerability of the access mechanisms put in place by the operators, in the industrial domain or in other sectors, with regard to the specific characteristics of each of these mechanisms..

REGULATORY REVISION OF NUCLEAR SECURITY

As part of its expert appraisal and technical assistance remit for the HFDS (Senior Defense and Security Official) of the Ministry of Ecological Transition (MTE), IRSN had contributed in 2020 to the revision of the decree relating to the implementation of the regulations on the protection and control of nuclear materials, their facilities and their transportation (PCMNIT regulations). Decree 2021-713 of 3 June 2021 provides for the coming into force of the new regulations on 1 January 2023, and IRSN took part throughout the year in thematic work groups and steering committees for revising all the implementation orders.

SECURITY APPRAISALS: A FRAMEWORK FOR WORKING WITH THE MTE

Drafted jointly with the Ministry of Ecological Transition (MTE), this document details the general terms of the implementation of expert appraisal work conducted by IRSN in the framework of its support to the nuclear security department of the MTE.

RENEWAL OF AGREEMENTS LINKING IRSN TO THE SID AND ISL

The renewal for three years of the partnership agreement with the Defense Infrastructure Service (Service d’infrastructure de la Défense – SID) will enable IRSN to conduct joint testing with the SID on different topics and to benefit from a dedicated space for exchanging with the experts on the protection of the Armed Forces infrastructures. The renewal for three years of the partnership agreement with the Saint-Louis Franco-German research institute (ISL) will enable the continuation of the joint testing programme and make it possible to benefit from a dedicated space for exchange. In the framework of this agreement, a PhD thesis co-funded by both institutes and co-directed by IRSN and the CNRS will enable IRSN to reinforce, in complete independence, its knowledge of topics with major security implications.

CYBERSECURITY OF INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS: CONDUCTING TESTS ON THE HYDRA PLATFORM

In the field of cybersecurity, IRSN is developing a platform designated HYDRA, which enables the reproduction of a variety of digital systems and the conducting of tests that could not be carried out in a nuclear power plant in operation. Based on the reproduction of a realistic command and control version of a reactor and the definition of cyber-attack scenarios produced in 2020, IRSN carried out tests in 2021 designed to identify the potential vulnerabilities of the system. HYDRA reinforces the expert appraisal capacity of the IRSN cybersecurity engineers, whose work, until now centred on analysing documents and conducting interviews with the operators, has now been enhanced with a simulation tool that is both original and relevant.

STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF EXPLOSIONS AND WEAPONS ON REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURES

In 2021, IRSN updated the DOPEX platform for the development of rapid pre-analysis tools for the effects of explosions and weapons on facilities or transport involving nuclear materials. The purpose of this is to make available a set of tools enabling the rapid assessment of damage to structures following a malicious attack. The tools developed have been subject to validation by comparison with experimental values obtained, inter alia, from tests conducted on the site of ARIANE GROUP, with which the Institute is in partnership.

In Brief

SECURITY OF IONISING RADIATION SOURCES: AN E-LEARNING MODULE AIMED AT BUSINESSES

Aimed at those responsible for nuclear activities who hold, use, manufacture, distribute, import, export or transport sources of ionising radiation, and at the persons authorised to access and convey these sources, this module designed by IRSN proposes training in the new regulatory texts that frame the security of the sources.

ANNUAL MEETING ON SECURITY AND SAFEGUARDS WITH THE DOE

On the 4th and 5th of October 2021, IRSN organised the 14th annual meeting of the “Permanent Coordinating Group” with the US Department of Energy (DOE). Besides reviewing the current programmes, this meeting provided the opportunity to discuss future actions in fields such as cybersecurity, transport security, metrology, and training on the monitoring and accounting of nuclear materials.

SAFETY ASSESSMENT AND PROTECTION EXERCISES (EPEES) 13-14

On 2 December, IRSN organised a nuclear security exercise for the HFDS (Senior Defense and Security Officials) of the MTE, an exercise that for the first time took place jointly on two different nuclear facilities (EDF and ORANO Tricastin). This exercise required the mobilisation, notably, of around 50 people from IRSN to run it and to assess it, and involved several hundred participants from the entities concerned.

Nuclear and chemical non-proliferation

In the field of nuclear non-proliferation, IRSN can point to three highlights in 2021: its contribution to the annual congress on nuclear safeguards of the ESARDA association; the analysis of the new administrative framework for trade and cooperation on nuclear materials, equipment and technologies between the Member States of EURATOM and the United Kingdom; and its contribution to the French response to the EURATOM questionnaire aimed at assessing the timeliness of revising regulation 302/2005.

In the field of the non-proliferation of chemical weapons, IRSN is participating in the national group coordinated by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs to define the priorities of France for the 5th review conference of the CWC.

IRSN CONTRIBUTES TO THE ORGANISATION OF THE 2021 SYMPOSIUM OF ESARDA

The European Safeguards Research & Development Association (ESARDA) and the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) jointly held, last August, their annual symposium. Due to the constraints linked to the Covid-19 crisis, the symposium was held by video conference. With France currently chairing the Association, IRSN made seven contributions, including one co-authored with the EURATOM Technical Committee and the Belgian Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC). These contributions dealt with subjects such as the development of software for the characterisation of nuclear materials using weighing methods, the IT tools developed by the Institute to facilitate the follow-up of inspections, and the implementation of inspection regimes in EURATOM Member States and countries outside the European Union.

The symposium also saw the signing of a cooperation agreement between ESARDA and the IAEA, notably in favour of actions related to the capitalisation of knowledge.

IMPACT OF THE EURATOM-UK AGREEMENT ON TRADE AND COOPERATION IN NUCLEAR MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY

In late December 2020, EURATOM and the UK signed an agreement setting out the administrative framework for future trade and cooperation in nuclear materials, equipment or technology between the EU and the UK. IRSN, which is responsible in particular for transmitting operator notifications for nuclear material imports and exports to EURATOM, took part in a meeting on 25 January to present this new agreement to industrialists in the nuclear sector. As part of its technical support for the EURATOM Technical Committee (ETC), the Institute sent a notice to the committee in February 2021 after analysing the constraints that this agreement could create on exchanges in this field with the United Kingdom.

In Brief

PREPARATION FOR THE 5TH REVIEW CONFERENCE OF THE CWC

As part of its technical support for the French authorities, IRSN proposed, within the framework of the five-year review of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), a number of technical avenues for reinforcing or increasing the efficiency of the verification regime of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). These proposals will inform the French position at the conference, as defended by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, in accordance with France’s political line within the OPCW.

IRSN ACADEMY HOLDS ITS FIRST ENTIRELY REMOTE TRAINING COURSE ON NON-PROLIFERATION

12 trainees in 11 different time zones took part, from 20-30 September 2021, in the first international training course of the new IRSN Academy, entitled “Implementing nuclear safeguards in practice”.

EURATOM QUESTIONNAIRE RELATING TO REGULATION 302/2005

Based on its expertise in international safeguards for nuclear materials and its field experience in accompanying inspections conducted by EURATOM in France, IRSN contributed, as part of its technical support for the EURATOM Technical Committee (ETC), to the drafting of the French authorities’ response, scheduled for October 31, to the questionnaire sent by the European Commission as part of its project to revise European Regulation No. 302/2005 on the safeguards for those in possession of nuclear materials (uranium, plutonium, thorium) within the Member States of the European Union.