Since January 1, the Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority (ASNR) has been the only entity responsible for nuclear safety in France. The launch of this new independent administrative authority results from the absorption of the Institute of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) and its 1,600 employees, scientific safety experts, by the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) and its 500 civil servants, police officer responsible for decisions on power plants. The very first press release specifies that “ASNR now ensures, on behalf of the State, control of civil nuclear activities in France. It also carries out research, expertise, training and public information missions in the areas of nuclear safety and radiation protection. »
The objective of this merger is to “fluidify” decisions, with a view to relaunching a nuclear program in France. Based at the headquarters of the former ASN in Montrouge (Hauts-de-Seine), the new entity finds itself with a multitude of crucial files to manage, ranging from the extension of power plants to the construction of new high-power reactors, in through the development of mini-reactors and the future of fuel cycle facilities. With more than 2,000 employees, it is now the second nuclear regulatory authority in the world, after the American NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission).
The reorganization remains to be finalized.
This merger, recorded at the Élysée in February 2023, was voted on in April, but it aroused strong opposition from both unions and associations, who fear a decline in public information on nuclear power and the separation between expertise. and decision. In a press release, the IRSN inter-union called “to be vigilant, more than ever given the uncertainties about the functioning of the ASNR on January 2, concerns about its internal regulations and a budgetary impasse from February”in the absence of a 2025 finance law.
Pierre-Marie Abadie, who took over as president of the ASNR on November 13, ensures that “ASNR is already fully operational”. However, support services, such as the human resources department and the financial department, were brought together within single departments, while part of the IRSN's activities were transferred to the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA ) and the Ministry of Defense.
Core business services remain for the time being “juxtaposed”. For François Jeffroy, CFDT representative, “there was a minimal merger: we took the building blocks of the ASN and the IRSN and put them side by side. » Concerns are also focused on the draft internal regulations, a crucial text governing the functioning of the ASNR.
“Building a collective”
In fact, the IRSN CSE issued an unfavorable opinion on this text on December 17, due to a lack of guarantees on two key requests: that “explicitly stated in the internal regulations” the independence between the expertise and the decision, as well as the “principle of publication of all expert opinions”in the name of public information, reports the inter-union.
For his part, Pierre-Marie Abadie announced that the draft regulation “will include comments” resulting from consultations carried out at the end of 2024. It will be up to him to present it on January 16 to the Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices. Responsible for leading the reform, he will also have to present his roadmap to staff by the end of the month. He emphasized: “We won't have the answers to everything on day one, but the journey we take will be just as important as where we end up. »
The first months, he said, will be devoted to “the construction of a collective, around common values, beyond our cultures and our histories. » This transition period will therefore be crucial to establish a new identity within the ASNR and reassure the various players in the sector.
